Enea Bastianini “planned” Jorge Martin overtake in Barcelona MotoGP Sprint

Enea Bastianini was on the podium in the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP Sprint for the seventh Saturday race in succession, taking second place from Jorge Martin on the final lap.

Bastianini passed Martin on the downhill entry to turn five because he felt stronger than the Pramac Ducati rider in that part of the track. It was a move Bastianini said he’d been planning.

“I have planned a bit the overtake to Jorge [Martin], because in that point I was more confident to go directly on the line and, well, I was much faster,” Bastianini said.

“It’s not simple, because on the left side the temperature of the tyre is a bit cold, but for the rest, well, I overtake him.”

Turn five is a notorious corner at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya because it is the second left-hander of the lap, and the first one where the riders brake while entering, because turn two comes immediately after turn one at the end of the front straight.

It means that the temperature of the left-hand-side of the tyres is cold when arriving at turn five, and the corner being downhill is another factor that can negatively affect the grip in that corner.

All of that means that passing in turn five can be a risk, in theory, but Bastianini said he was “Safe, because I was very straight during the overtake. If there was a risk, probably it was possible for me to release the brake and go long.”

Repsol Honda’s Luca Marini agreed with Bastianini’s perspective, but only to a point.

Asked if if is risky to pass at turn five, Marini simply said “No,” but his justification for this was the asymmetric hard-compound front tyre that Michelin has brought to Barcelona this weekend, because it is softer on the left-hand-side than the medium-compound front tyre:

“If it is cold and you have the full hard option [front tyre], yes, but now we have the double compound — on the left side is softer than the medium [compound front tyre] — so it’s much better than the past now, so to try an overtake there is okay, no problem.”

Bastianini joined Martin in running the medium-compound front tyre in the Sprint, but even still he was able to make the pass cleanly and without incident.

Leading at the start "wasn't in my mind"

Bastianini’s start was the key to his race. From eighth on the grid he led at turn two, although his teammate Francesco Bagnaia took the lead at turn three.

“It wasn’t in my mind, to be honest, to be first in the first corner,” Bastianini admitted, adding that he simply didn’t have the pace to go with Bagnaia.

“Pecco [Francesco Bagnaia] was with a bit better pace during the first two or three laps.

“Afterwards I bring my pace and I fight with Jorge. Our pace was really similar and we fought a lot for this second place.”

Aside from Bastianini’s turn five pass, he and Martin exchanged positions on multiple occasions at turn one, including on one occasion where Bastianini was pushed marginally off-track by martin on the outside of the first corner.

“ Sometimes it was a bit on the limit, because one time we were out of the line, I was on the red,” Bastianini said.

“But when you fight for something important you have to give 100 per cent in every lap, in every corner.

“Jorge did it for all the race, me also because I fight also for something good.

“But for the rest, it was necessary for me to do a good race in Barcelona because every time it’s not simple this track for me, and it’s good to do a step today.”

Bastianini, in particular, was strong at the end. It’s historically been a trait of the Italian, but a strong point that had vanished somewhat in the recent flyaway races.

He said that he had made a change to the bike that he felt had helped, but that it’s not clear if it will help in Sunday’s full-distance race.

“We have to check better tomorrow, and tomorrow let’s see if also the change on the bike works well for the end of the race,” Bastianini said.

“But today, yes, the last two or three laps the bike worked well, and also the grip was a bit more on the edge [of the tyre].”

About Sunday, Bastianini is unsure of his tyre choice, apart from that the soft-compound rear is not a viable option.

“I don’t know because today I was with the medium [compound front tyre], but probably it can drop more than the hard [compound front tyre],” he said.

“But, for the rest, in the rear, also the soft [compound tyre] will be not the race choice because at the end, in the last two or three laps, it has dropped a lot.”