English
Italiano
It was a Friday at Assen with a surprise ending that of Enea Bastianini, who hit the eighth chrono thus gaining provisional access to Q2. All despite a slip at the end of the session due to a mistake with the gearbox of his GP24. A positive start to the weekend, then, for the two Ducati bikes of the factory team that seem to have immediately found the right balance on the hostile Dutch track. Enea, fresh from the podium with the Italian Ducati one-two at Mugello, only a few days later was made official in the second KTM team (which will also be Red Bull) alongside Vinales. At the moment 'The Beast' is fourth in the standings with 114 points just behind the GP23 of Marc Marquez, who will take his place in the Lenovo team from next season.
A good day with a little scare at the end, you burned the time attack risking a mockery.
"The return to the pit was very long - Bastianini tells - I couldn't see the classification and I didn't know if I had passed or not. Too bad, I made a mistake because in the change of direction my foot got stuck and instead of downshifting I put it and at the next corner I laid down. Overall, though, we worked well, and in the afternoon session we took another step forward and improved. I still lack some grip and some consistency but I am satisfied."
The wind on the track was another challenging factor.
"Yes, it's a factor I've always suffered a lot with, I'm still trying to make up for some of my shortcomings. I had been doing well in the wind today though, hopefully there will be less of it tomorrow though!"
You are back from some very good feelings after the Mugello GP.
"I must say that we have now consolidated a good base on the bike, the only track on which I have struggled particularly so far has been Barcelona. It's a base that has worked well or badly everywhere. Also here in Assen you often tend to change the setup a lot, but this time we didn't have to twist the bike too much. We'll see tomorrow if we do a little something but I think it's a hand we can do well with. I miss interpreting T4 better than Pecco and some other riders but the speed was good."
Today Pecco seemed to have something more, where does he make the difference?
"Among the Ducatis he definitely has something more, although Maverick at the end was very competitive. He makes the biggest difference in the fast exchange, between turns 14 and 16, there he can brake later than everyone but braking little. He has a different braking point than everyone else but he still manages to stay on the line while we are struggling more. I am happy because looking at the data I saw that I was getting closer, but that is still the point of the track where I suffer the most."
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