Enea Bastianini undeniably marked the start of the 2022 season in MotoGP. Having managed to win three times on the handlebars of a GP21 at Losail, Austin and Le Mans, he led the championship on several occasions and established himself as an unexpected title contender, just likeAleix Espargaró. But unlike the Spaniard, a real metronome in his results, the Italian has experienced ups and downs, and has been encountering difficulties for four Grands Prix.
With two crashes at Mugello and Barcelona then 10th and 11th places at Sachsenring and Assen, he fell to fifth position in the general classification and seems to have fallen into line. The fault with the limits of a machine dating from last year? An idea swept away by Bastianini.
“My bike can still be fast, I’m sure of it”did he declare. “It’s just that there were difficult tracks for me that I struggled to get out of and where I struggled to be fast but I believe the 2021 bike is still competitive.”
His ability to perform with this machine has precisely opened the doors to him for the official Ducati team, in which he is in contention once morest George Martin to get the second handlebar alongside Pecco Bagnaia. Although both riders have signed a factory contract with Ducati, the symbolic place in the official team is considered a real promotion. But the decision, which was expected at the end of May, has continued to be delayed and its announcement is now expected for the end of the summer.
And while Bastianini has encountered difficulties in the last four Grands Prix, Martín for his part has managed to return to the forefront. A situation which has therefore been reversed and which might explain the drop in performance of the Italian, who would in turn be under pressure from the results, but which Paolo Ciabatti, team manager of the official Ducati team does not believe.
“In our case, both Jorge and Enea know that they will be Ducati factory riders next year. They have their contract, the factory package and a factory salary compared to the teams for which they race. So on that aspect they know they will be factory riders with factory gear. I don’t think being in the official team or Pramac can have any influence on them because their future is already decided. Maybe if the driver is not yet sure regarding his future and doesn’t have a contract he can have extra pressure but in the case of Jorge and Enea, I don’t think that’s the case “did he declare.
Words confirmed by Bastianini himself, who assures that he is not under the pressure linked to his future and who explains his drop in performance by routes that have always been of little success to him. “In reality I am very serene”he said. “It’s the truth, it doesn’t weigh too much on me not knowing until August. I discussed the most important things, we reached an agreement. I’m going to ride [en étant] even more serene.”
“But what has limited me lately was not that. I didn’t think too much regarding my future because I knew I would stay at Ducati. I struggled like last year on more or less the same tracks so I didn’t think regarding it too much because it just means that I have gaps that are a little too big.”
If the situation seems to tilt in favor of Jorge Martínnothing has yet been formalized and it will therefore be necessary to wait until the end of August to find out the complete Ducati line-up in the various teams.
