Enea Bastianini “pushed like never” to beat Marc Marquez in Motegi MotoGP sprint
“I won this fight”
Enea Bastianini says he “pushed like never” to ensure he beat Marc Marquez in their battle for second in the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix sprint.
The factory Ducati rider made a good launch from fourth on the grid to move up to second at Turn 1, though was soon overtaken by Tech3’s Pedro Acosta.
Bastianini found himself locked in a heated battle with Gresini Ducati’s Marquez in the last laps over second after Acosta crashed out of the lead, with the pair swapping positions at Turns 9, 10 and 11 on the penultimate tour.
Marquez ultimately had to conceded defeat, while a slow last lap for Bagnaia meant Bastianini was only 0.181s away from victory.
“Has been a nice fight today,” Bastianini told TNT Sport.
“I wasn’t confident to do a great race like I did today.
“Well, it’s improving my pace because on the time attack I was good but for the pace it was so and so.
“Then in the end arrived this fight in the last two laps with Marc. I commit a small mistake at Turn 9 and Marc entered.
“We arrived very close together at Turn 11, he released the brake a bit - me too. And again another time.
“But in the end I was in a better line and I pushed all the last lap like never and I won this fight. Second place is good.”
Bastianini’s runner-up spot in the sprint has kept him in third in the standings, five points clear of Marquez.
But their fight to complete the championship top three is not something that Bastianini is thinking about ahead of Sunday’s grand prix.
“Every time it’s important to fight and usually I don’t check anything on the classification,” he added.
“I have only my objective inside my mind and it’s always to arrive on top.
“Tomorrow we have to adjust a bit the set-up because at the end my rear tyre, especially on the right side, was destroyed.
“And tomorrow the race will probably be with the medium. So, we have to check the data to do it again.”
