Friday to forget for Enea Bastianini in Australia. On a circuit which was hardly successful for him last year, he completely missed his Practice and finally found himself 16th at the end of the only session contested today. It’s terrible, because it will take him to Q1, facing strong opponents. While his rival for third place in the ranking Marc Marquez stood out, “Bestia” could not have done worse, even if he also had his share of bad luck. The weekend has barely started, and yet there is already fire.
Bastianini was devastated after this Practice. In good momentum for a few races, no one could imagine him 16th on the evening of the first day. « What happened? Everything was very fast. We didn’t have a good strategy, and what’s more, I was unlucky. I took two yellow flags, and I cut the checkerboard two seconds after the end of time. We made a mistake because I should have run more with the last compound I used. Instead it was a disaster, which was a shame because I was fine midway through the session when conditions improved. » he bitterly declared to GPOne microphones.
It must be said that the drivers did not have FP1 to acclimatize to the parameters that govern the Phillip Island circuit. Tomorrow, FP2 will be even more important.
« I hope FP2 will be dry, because that would help me find a good rhythm. The objective is already to go to Q2, and to do the best from there. Now I will check the data because Marquez and Martin have different rhythm, but I believe I can do it. » he continued. Clearly, he must already hope not to fall too many points behind given the pace of Marc Marquez.
Photo :
Michelin Motorsport
As with Bagnaia, the Ducati Desmosedici GP24 seemed to pose a problem for him. It’s rare enough to be mentioned, but the top 3 was only made up of GP23s. “There is a lot of vibration at the rear and pumping coming out of corners.
Last year it was better, today the bike was moving a lot and it slowed me down. Afterwards, we haven’t been able to do any tests yet, we attacked directly. Now that we are more relaxed, we will focus on the settings » he concluded.
Do you think Enea Bastianini is capable of qualifying for Q2 and tickling Marquez, Martin and others?
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Result of Practice at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix:
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport
