Enea Bastianini explains how a late night led to Misano victory

Enea Bastianini says he was in his garage “at 10pm” poring over data in order to match the pace of the leaders for the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Throughout Friday and Saturday at Misano, Bastianini looked like he would be fighting for the final spot on the podium as team-mate Francesco Bagnaia and Pramac’s Jorge Martin held a clear advantage.

But, having finished third in the sprint, Bastianini went on to challenge for victory in Sunday’s race from the off and secured Ducati’s 100th grand prix victory after a controversial last lap overtake on Martin.

“Yeah, it was a special Sunday,” Bastianini said.

“Yesterday I worked a lot. At 10pm, I was inside my box looking at my data to be competitive today.

“In the end, this morning [in the warm-up] my confidence was nice. I was confident also for the race.

“At the end, Jorge pushed a lot all race and his riding was super nice, with a lot of strong points. In the last lap, I saw a bit of space in Turn 4, I went inside directly.

“He closed the line a lot and I braked more than my expectations. I crossed the line and won the race.”

Bastianini defended his overtake on Martin, believing he was on the limit but within the rules. The stewards did not investigate the incident.

The Italian is known for his ability to save his tyres and be strong in the second half of races, though he doesn’t feel like the pace in the Emilia Romagna GP allowed him to do that.

“I think it was difficult to save the tyres, because we have pushed from the first lap to the last one,” he added.

“To see the race pace is incredible. Jorge pushed a lot when he was in front of me. Usually, when you fight for the victory you can spend something more in the last lap and I tried to do it.”

He also noted that the windier conditions on Sunday offered him a boost as they allowed him to be quicker through Misano’s faster corners. 

“I think, also in 2022 I tried to win the race, but in the same corner where I tried to attack Jorge I made a mistake and went outside and I lost the chance to win the race,” he said.

“It was a big risk to go inside on the last lap. Misano gives me something more.

“I don’t know if it’s the conditions, the family, and I like the track, we train a lot here.

“Today, the wind also helped me a bit because in the faster corners - like Turns 11 and 12 - it was much easier to go in compared [to the sprint].”