Bastianini dedicates Qatar MotoGP win to the late Fausto Gresini
Enea Bastianini leaves the 2022 Qatar MotoGP as the championship leader following a stunning maiden victory.
Following a poor start to the race which saw the Gresini rider relegated to fifth - started second - Bastianini timed his overtakes to perfection before holding off Brad Binder on the final lap.
With tyre choice proving to be key, Bastianini elected for the medium rear while many of the riders around him chose the softer option.
Speaking about his first ever premier class win, Bastianini added: "I’m very happy today. We saw a very good potential in the test and when we arrived here we have done another step on the set-up and electronics.
"Yesterday, for the first time I did a really good lap time in the qualifying. Today I started from the first row.
"The best choice for me was the medium on the rear because this morning I tried it in the warm-up and saw a good potential.
"Also, with the soft it pumps a lot in the slow corner but the medium was more stable. I thought ‘okay I need to put the medium’.
"It wasn’t easy in the first part of the race because Pol [Espargaro] pushed a lot, but the last seven laps it was the best choice. So with that it was possible to close the gap and to win."
On a day where Ducati saw three of its main title contenders score zero points - Jack Miller retired due to technical issues, while Francesco Bagnaia wiped out Jorge Martin at turn one after losing the front end of his factory Lenovo Ducati - Bastianini’s win saved the Italian manufacturer’s blushes given Qatar is a circuit Ducati tend to do very well at.
While the win was a huge moment for Bastianini, it was also a huge moment for the team and MotoGP as a whole following the loss of former Gresini Racing Team Owner, Fausto, due to COVID-19 shortly before last season.
Dedicating his win to the late Fausto Gresini, Bastianini said: "Yeah it was really nice! (to win for him) Fausto had such really good guys in this team and now Nadia [Padovani] (New Team Owner) has brought together the team and the atmosphere is fantastic. All the guys are so motivated like me. It stayed possible to do this for him today."
