The Algarve circuit threw a bit of a curveball at Enea Bastianini, who was still leader of the championship until this morning. The young Italian rider lost control of the bike on lap 10 and ended up in the gravel. It was an unexpected crash after an incredible start to the race that saw the Gresini team rider duel with Marquez as well. The result was zero points that weigh heavily for Bastianiniin what continues to be a championship full of twists and turns. The ranking now sees Enea in second place, overhauled by Quartararo who, thanks to today’s victory, ousted him from the leadership with an eight-point advantage.
“For sure it’s a pity, I’m disappointed because we could have done well – Enea told us – we started on the right foot, I made a good start. I was trying to recover, I did three laps behind Pol Espargaro but I had some difficulties in passing him, then I tried at turn one, but I was really on the limit. As I lost some ground I got a bit carried away, maybe a little too much. It’s really a pity, I made a great comeback, my pace was very fast, I am convinced that I had the potential to do even better. Unfortunately, these things happen, but this whole GP was a bit particular. The fact we didn’t lap much in the dry may have affected us, but we worked well, the bike was perfect, we were lacking nothing”.
If you hadn’t crashed, what sort of result do you think you would have been able to achieve?
“It’s difficult to predict. Maybe I could have finished the race in 4th or 5th position, you can never say in a race, but in my opinion I had the potential to recover a few more positions.”
Do you think the track conditions during the weekend had a decisive influence? What are your thoughts on the ranking too? Before this race you were the championship leader…
“I think that the rain in recent days affected the preparation of all the riders in the same way. Perhaps compared to me they managed to do one more session. I had to do everything quickly in the warm up, the base setup wasn’t bad , but maybe I started with too much preload at the front and I made a mistake. As for the classification, I am not particularly worried, we are still at the beginning, there are many races to go and points to be won, the world championship is still open”.