“I made it,” beamed Gresini-Ducati rider Enea Bastianini on Sunday evening following his maiden win in the MotoGP World Championship. He also leaves Qatar as the World Cup leader.
Even before the last of 22 laps began, tears were already falling in the Gresini pits at the Losail International Circuit. Team Principal Nadia Padovani had successfully implemented the dream of her husband Fausto Gresini, who died in February 2021, with the support of their sons Lorenzo and Luca as well as the commercial director Carlo Merlini: After seven years of joint venture with Aprilia, Gresini will be back as an independent team for the first time in 2022 in the premier class of the motorcycle world championship. On last year’s Ducati GP21, Enea Bastianini gave the racing team from Faenza a fantastic debut and emotional scenes with his first MotoGP victory.
“It’s such an emotional moment for us and the whole team, we all cried at the end of the race,” said Bastianini on Sunday evening in Doha following dedicating his victory to Fausto Gresini. “We did a very good job in testing and this weekend the set-up was incredible. We worked very well with the electronics to be ready for the race. My pace was really good in the warm-up, so I knew: ‘Okay, I can manage the race well.’ I went for the medium rear tire and in the end it was the best choice for me. I pushed in the last six to eight laps – and won the race,” he says, somewhat incredulous.
The 24-year-old Italian said of the competition: “Pol Espargaró was so quick and he also took good care of the tires, considering that he chose the soft tire compound. Honda have made a very good step from my point of view, they are very competitive. In addition, today – unexpectedly for me – Binder came along. He ran a very good race. It wasn’t easy for me to win, but I did it!”
“Now I also have the MotoGP victory. I think I already understood my potential in the Moto2 class, but in MotoGP it’s not easy and sometimes it’s not possible to be at the front. But I’m here to do my best, anytime, anywhere,” announced the new 2020 MotoGP World Championship leader and Moto2 Champion.
MotoGP result, Doha, March 6th:
1. Enea Bastianini, Ducati, 22 Rounds in 42: 13,198 min
2. Brad Binder, KTM, + 0.346 sec
3. Pol Espargaro, Honda, +1,351
4. Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, + 2,242
5. Marc Marquez, Honda, +4,099
6. Joan Mir, Suzuki, + 4,843
7. Alex Rins, Suzuki, + 8,810
8. Johann Zarco, Ducati, + 10,536
9. Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha, + 10,543
10. Takaaki Nakagami, Honda, +14,967
11. Franco Morbidelli, Yamaha, + 16,712
12. Maverick Viñales, Aprilia, + 23,216
13. Luca Marini, Ducati, + 27.283
14. Andrea Dovizioso, Yamaha, + 27.374
15. Remy Gardner, KTM, + 41,107
16. Darryn Binder, Yamaha, + 41,119
17. Fabio Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 41.349
18. Raúl Fernández, KTM, + 42,357
– Jorge Martin, Ducati, 11 laps down
– Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati, 11 laps down
– Miguel Oliveira, KTM, 12 laps down
– Alex Marquez, Honda, 13 laps down
– Marco Bezzecchi, Ducati, 16 laps down
– Jack Miller, Ducati, 16 laps back
Championship status following 1 of 21 Grand Prix:
1. Bastianini 25 Points. 2. Brad Binder 20. 3. Pol Espargaró 16. 4. Aleix Espargaró 13. 5. Marc Márquez 11. 6. Mir 10. 7. Rins 9. 8. Zarco 8. 9. Quartararo 7. 10. Nakagami 6. 11 Morbidelli 5. 12. Viñales 4. 13. Marini 3. 14. Dovizioso 2. 15. Gardner 1.
Constructors’ Championship:
1. Ducati 25 Punkte. 2. KTM 20. 3. Honda 16. 4. Aprilia 13. 5. Suzuki 10. 6. Yamaha 7.
Team-WM:
1. Repsol Honda 27 Punkte. 2. Gresini Racing 25. 3. Red Bull KTM Factory 20. 4. Suzuki Ecstar 19. 5. Aprilia Racing 17. 6. Monster Energy Yamaha 12. 7. Pramac Racing 8. 8. LCR Honda 6. 9. Mooney VR46 Racing 3. 10. WithU Yamaha RNF 2. 11. Tech3 KTM Factory 1.
