Enea Bastianini ‘confident’ ahead of second season as factory Ducati rider

As he showed towards the end of 2023, Enea Bastianini will be a contender for podiums and wins if he remains fit during the 2024 MotoGP season.

And that’s likely to be the minimum expectations as Bastianini could face huge pressure to hold onto his factory Ducati seat. 

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Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez are just two of the names who are likely to be eying up Bastianini’s seat, while Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Di Giannantonio will be hoping to have their say too when it comes to a factory Ducati ride in 2025.

But Bastianini, who was dominant at Sepang last year, began his pre-season in very strong fashion at the Malaysian circuit, before continuing that in Qatar.

Speaking after the two-day Qatar test, Bastianini said: “My feeling with the bike is good. Like the first day we worked well despite some problems.

“There was a small problem with vibration compared to last year, especially in the left corners.

“Also, we had to resolve something on the front edge [of the bike] but the pace was good. The time attack was not bad and we are happy.”

In terms of goals from the first round of the year onwards, Bastianini is hoping to be at the front of the field right away.

“The target is to fight for the top positions but we have to see what happens race-by-race and build confidence,” added Bastianini.

“So far we have worked very well and let’s see how the first race goes.

“I’m really curious to see how it will go.”