Bastianini: Win “impossible” as “Jorge was perfect”

Enea Bastianini had already put to rest the bad memories of last year in Portugal - where he crashed out in the sprint and did not take part in the main race nor the rounds that followed - following his standout Saturday performance which saw him collect pole position.

Sixth in the sprint saw the Ducati Lenovo rider build on that success and it wasn’t long into the Sunday feature race before it became clear a podium was possible, finishing an eventual second to a Jorge Martin masterclass.

The #23 revealed that his sprint performance had given him plenty to build on, revealing the areas he needed to work on, including his start:

“It has been a really great race for me, from the big mistakes committed yesterday it was important to do a great result today - the start was good for me today - but Jorge’s one was better!”

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Issues as the lights went out resolved, Bastianini then shifted his focus to the rival ahead of him on track - Maverick Vinales. The Aprilia rider was a strong second until an issue with his gearbox saw him leave the race in dramatic fashion on the final lap.

Bastianini expanded on trying to pass the Spaniard:

“ For the rest of the race I tried to overtake Maverick but he was really fast, especially in the last sector so it was impossible for me to try to attack him”.

The Ducati rider added he thought he could “do something more to catch him on the last lap” as he put in a series of new best race laps, though in the end it was not necessary.

In comparison, Bastianini viewed Martin as a bridge too far.

With Martin ahead thoughts did turn to the possibility of a race win, but reeling in an almost faultless performance was a big ask for the Italian:

“Jorge was on top and I was behind Maverick so it was difficult for me to think about victory today.

My target was to fight with Maverick in the last lap, the victory for today I think was impossible, I think if I was second place, probably I think it can be a little bit different.

I think Jorge was perfect throughout the race”.

A consistent performance over the opening two rounds, culminating in today’s podium finish sees Bastianini leave Portugal third in the overall standings on 39 points, 21 behind current overall leader Martin ahead of the third race of the season in Austin, Texas.