MotoGP

Gresini Ducati's Enea Bastianini took an emotional maiden MotoGP victory in a dramatic Qatar Grand Prix a year after team founder Fausto Gresini died of ...

On lap 19 Bastianini out-dragged Espargaro to take the lead, with the Honda rider’s hopes of fighting back ending at Turn 1 when he ran out wide and let Binder through into second. At the front Pol Espargaro’s pace remained strong and his lead would soon be up to over a second by lap 13, with Binder now holding up the likes of Bastianini and Marc Marquez behind. Fitted with the soft front and rear Michelin tyre, the factory Honda duo ran one and two in the early stages – Espargaro keeping his six-time world champion at bay when Marquez ran into Turn 1 too hot in his attempt to take the lead on lap two.

Brad Binder's Qatar GP was so much more than the Red Bull KTM rider was expecting having ended his first race of 2022 on the podium in second.

I think we have a lot of completely different tracks we need to go to and completely different scenarios we’re going to face in the future. So we need to keep our feet on the ground and keep working. So it made such a huge difference and it gives you so much more confidence because you don’t have to be completely on the limits on the brakes every corner. here. It’s all thanks to them at the end of the day. “I want to say yes but I don’t want to jinx anything,” he said of the season’s potential trajectory. “Everything’s still quite new for us so I think there’s still a way to go and we need to do a bit more testing to really get the full potential of our package. This is a track that’s super difficult for us and it’s unbelievable to think we’re on the podium here, it’s nice. “Well, a little bit too low on the TC in some places and I wasn’t able to get the drive I needed. I know there’s improvements we can make on the rear and when we do, I think it’s going to give us a really, really strong package.” Our package is still relatively new and I think we still have a way to go. “When I started shifting the gears and I started to jump the row in front of me, I thought ‘That’s perfect’. To slide into turn one in third place was perfect. “I knew that we had been getting good starts all year, well the whole of last year, but tonight’s was a little bit extra!

DOHA: Gresini Racing's Enea Bastianini claimed his maiden MotoGP victory in style at the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday as other Ducatis were ...

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MotoGP was at its unpredictable best in its first weekend back for 2022, with Enea Bastianini opening the season with an emotional maiden victory with the ...

The race was blighted by a well-understood tyre pressure problem that’s a side-effect of the Yamaha being stuck in traffic. “But overall I think we, Honda and myself, sent a message tonight that not just Marc Marquez is able to win with Honda. “Our bike is working incredibly well, and more than anything I’m very confident with the front end. Pipped for automatic Q2 qualification on Saturday was a sign of the times. The race was no better, the pair finishing ninth and 11th after retirements from further up the field. “We are not on the same level as our opponents. At the end of a particularly tough 2020 Fausto moved to return the team to independence from this season, but he tragically died before he could realise the transition. “It’s difficult for me to speak,” he said after the race. Jack Miller retired with an engine map problem that manifested itself almost immediately, leaving him dangerously underpowered on the straights and bitterly disappointed on what had been shaping up as a strong season opener. A strong weekend in Indonesia will do much to calm nerves. But it was a powerful result for Bastianini too. He first entered bikes into the premier class in 1997, since when he’s collected 14 wins and 42 podiums.

It was a dream start to 2022 for Gresini Racing as Bastianini claims an emotional win; KTM & Honda on podium.

4 weeks ago 4 weeks ago 4 weeks ago 4 weeks ago 4 weeks ago 4 weeks ago 4 weeks ago Brad Binder’s second is something no one was expecting during pre-season testing but the South African, as he so often does, pulls a rabbit out the hat when it matters most. Bastianini lost a tenth to Binder on the penultimate lap, the gap was 1.1s. It was down to 0.6s heading into the final sector, but Bastianini held on. Four laps in and it was as you were. The moment we’d all been waiting for burst into life as polesitter Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) got a poor start, as Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) grabbed the holeshot from the outside of the front row. Just over a year on from the tragic passing of much-adored Fausto Gresini, Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) delivered a Grand Prix of Qatar masterclass to claim an emotional victory under the lights.

Gresini's Enea Bastianini says his emotional maiden victory in MotoGP in Sunday's Qatar Grand Prix was “unexpected”.

The best choice for me was the medium rear because this morning I tried in the warm-up and I saw a good potential. “To do a victory was so unexpected, but I saw in [team boss] Nadia [Padovani’s] eyes the motivation of Fausto [Gresini] to advance with this team. “I’m very excited today,” the Italian said.