BASTIANINI TAKES EMOTIONAL MAIDEN WIN
Enea Bastianini on a 2021 spec Ducati claimed an emotional maiden win in the opening round of the MotoGP season for the Gresini Racing team in Qatar.
The win came just over 12 months after team founder and owner Fausto Gresini passed away with COVID-19, and was the first time that Gresini Racing had raced as a privateer team since 2014 before switching to become the factory Aprilia operation.
It was a podium that would have had long odds with Bastianini ‘The Beast’ taking his first win from factory KTM rider Brad Binder by just 0.3s, with factory Honda rider Pol Espargaro completing the podium.
It was a dramatic evening as many of last year’s title contenders either finished well down the order or not at all.
Australian Jack Miller was one of these non-finishers, on lap 7 he pulled into the pits and retired from the race.
The other Aussie Remy Gardner on his MotoGP debut stayed out of trouble and finished an excellent 15th to secure a point for the Tech 3 KTM team, piping Darryn Binder to the line by 0.012s.
Surprisingly off the start it was a poor one for all of the Ducati’s with their famous whole shot device, pole sitter Jorge Martin, while both the factory Ducati riders Miller and Francesco Bagnaia fell outside the top 10.
In fact, it was a Honda 1-2, with Marc Marquez leading briefly before Espargaro took the reins out from. Binder sat in third with Bastianini in fourth.
The next several laps riders were jockeying for position trying to creep forwards as the laps ticked by.
On Lap 6 Marquez ran wide and allowed Brad Binder into P2, and on the following lap Bastianini on the powerful Ducati also surged by the eight-time champion. Just behind them Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Suzuki’s Joan Mir scrapped for fifth.
With Miller pulling into the lane Ducati’s day soon got even worse, in a bid to keep with the lead group Bagnaia made a move on pole sitter Martin at Turn 1 on lap 12.
Bagnaia however lost the front fell from his bike and then bowled his brand mate out of the race also, both riders were okay, but Bastianini was now the sole Ducati representative still in the fight.
With 10 laps remaining Pol Espargaro led Binder by 1s, however the South African was replaced by Bastianini into Turn 1.
The Italian then started to eat into Pol Espargaro’s lead, at the beginning of Lap 17 of 22 the margin was just 0.6s, and just 0.189s the following lap as Bastianini set the fastest lap of the race.
With four laps remaining Bastianini blasted past Pol Espargaro on the pit straight to take the lead.
Espargaro trying to latch onto the tail of Bastianini was too hot at Turn 1 and relinquished second to Binder, in a handful of seconds he went from leading to third.
In the closing laps of the race Binder started to edge closer to Bastianini, but it was a case of too little, too late.
Bastianini was a MotoGP race winner in just his second season, flying the flag for Ducati, he won the race by 0.6s from Binder.
“My feelings are incredible right now,” Bastianini said after the race. “I pushed hard from the start, but the most important thing was to save the tyre for the end of the race.
“It’s hard to express my feelings now, but I want to dedicate the win to Fausto because he gave me incredible motivation from above.
“This is a fantastic result for the whole team: we’re all in tears right now. I’m also very happy for my family at home, so a big thank you goes to everyone who made this possible.”
Aleix Espargaro overtook Marquez on lap 18 and had his eyes on brother Pol for the final step on the podium.
However, the factory Honda man held on to take his second podium with the brand with brother Aleix finishing only 0.8s further back.
Marquez’s first race at Qatar since 2019 yielded a solid fifth, after dominating the early stages of the weekend the two Suzukis finished a lonely sixth and seventh, with 2020 champion Mir leading home teammate Alex Rins.
Reigning champion Fabio Quartararo had a day to forget, he looked set to finish eighth, however Ducati power saw him pipped at the line by Johann Zarco.
Takaaki Nakagami rounded out the top 10 ahead of Franco Morbidelli, Maverick Vinales, Luca Marini, Andrea Dovizioso.
Gardner was the best rookie ahead of Darryn Binder, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Raul Fernandez were the only other finishers.
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