Enea Bastianini: A minor mistake after a blistering ride cost him the podium

KTM rider Enea Bastianini put in an astonishing performance at the Japanese Grand Prix. A strong qualifying session, in which he secured 7th place, was followed by an even stronger sprint race. The Tech3 rider, who is primarily renowned for his exceptional final laps, hit the ground running right from the start. By the end of the first corner, the number 23 had already made up two places. Then ‘Las Bestia’ immediately went for his team-mate and Austrian Grand Prix winner Pedro Acosta. With success.

It was a fortunate move for Bastianini. Just one second later, there was a crash behind the future Trackhouse Aprilia rider. Alex Márquez had made a mistake and knocked both Acosta and Di Giannantonio out of the sprint.

Later on, he continued to move up the field under his own steam. Much to KTM’s delight, Bastianini had more pace than Marco Bezzecchi. By the end of lap 3, the Tech3 machine had already come back ahead of the World Championship bronze medallist. In the final stages, it briefly looked as though an even bigger surprise was on the cards. Bastianini was closing the gap on Jorge Martin dramatically. But at the same time, the KTM rider – for the time being – had his work cut out defending third place against Moreira.

It proved too much for Bastianini. On the final lap, a minor mistake dashed his dreams of a podium finish in Japan. The race stewards determined, as they had with Martin, that both rider and bike had crossed the track boundary. If this happens on the final lap, a penalty of one place is generally imposed. Consequently, what could have been second place turned into an unfortunate fourth.

His mood was understandably up and down afterwards. “Of course I was frustrated at first, partly because this time it was the other way round.” Enea Bastianini recalled the US Grand Prix half a year ago. On that occasion, the Italian was retrospectively awarded a podium place – Acosta had received a penalty.

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Bastianini tried to focus on the positives: “I’m satisfied with the race. I was consistently fast. I was particularly pleased with qualifying – it felt really good to have a clear view at the start once again.”

Bastianini also had reason to celebrate an improvement in the World Championship standings, moving past Luca Marini into 11th place. His team-mate’s comeback performance was less impressive. Maverick Viñales crossed the line in 15th place, 20 seconds behind the winner.