The sixth sprint race of the season, which took place today at Montmeló’s “Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya” saw Enea Bastianini fifth at the finish line. Francesco Bagnaia crashed out of the lead during the final lap of the encounter.
From the eleventh place of the grid, Bastanini had an excellent start as he exited the first chicane in sixth place. After an early part of the race that saw him tailing the leading group, Enea lost some ground following a coming together with Marc Marquéz as the latter overtook him. In the final laps, he managed to return to a competitive pace, but unfortunately the gap with the riders ahead was too big to bridge.
Bagnaia had a perfect launch from second place on the grid as the reigning world champion took the lead and successfully defended it in the first laps. After dropping down to fourth in the central part of the encounter, Pecco was back at the front with sixth laps to go as he tried to manage the small margin he had on the following rider. During the final lap, Bagnaia was yet another victim of the slippery track conditions – just like two previous race leaders before him – as he lost control of his Desmosedici machine and said goodbye to a race win that was well within reach.
The Sunday race of the Catalunya Grand Prix (24 laps) will get underway tomorrow at 14:00 local time after the traditional warm up session – scheduled at 9:40.
Enea Bastianini (#23 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 5th
“The day didn’t go as expected, especially after the steps forward we made yesterday. Unfortunately, this morning the feeling went back to the one I had at the beginning, and it was hard. Furthermore, I got a good lap cancelled in qualifying as I rode over the green stripe at turn 13, so I found myself quite far back on the grid. The sprint race went quite well: I had a good start but unfortunately a coming together with (Marc) Márquez sent me off the track and from there on I was unable to return on the leading group. It’s a shame, but we’ll try to do better tomorrow.”
Francesco Bagnaia (#1 Ducati Lenovo Team) – DNF
“We spent some time after the race in the pit-box to analyse the crash: I hit the brakes at the same spot and I was a little slower, but two degrees more in the leaning angle led me to the crash. It wasn’t anything big, but this is the reason behind the tumble. It’s a shame, because I was fast and I was controlling the margin at the front; I knew I had the pace and I was trying to keep everything in check, and I started to push once I saw that the others were starting to struggle. Obviously I’m very disappointed, especially because this is the third weekend in a row coming out of the sprint race empty-handed. It’s clearly a missed opportunity as the 12 points were well within reach, so I’m a little bit angry about it. I’ll need to be more careful tomorrow, especially at turn five.”
