One smiles with the medal, the other shows a bitter grin, from a hospital bed with an arm tied around his neck. I sin the invincible. AND Bastianini, the injured “Beast”: he will miss today’s game and at least Argentina’s. A nightmare debut in the factory team.
Ducati is divided between joy and pain, divided like the riders at the end of the first sprint race in MotoGP history. “A jungle” according to the 2021 world champion Fabio Quartararo centered by Mir, or the “show it took” to hear Bagnaia, Martin and Marquez, the top three? The twelve laps around the Algarve circuit caused emotions and fear. The new format is fun, but exposes it to greater danger, Aleix Espargaro (three Aprilias in the top seven bikes) — still shocked by brother Pol’s accident on Friday: fractures to the jaw and a vertebra, lung trauma, he was hospitalized in Faro but is better — he uses a strong comparison: «My favorite movie is “Gladiator” but not for this I would like to enter the arena». Unlike F1 – which has gradually taken over the Sprints, they will rise to six in 23 GPs this year – Dorna has instead decided to offer them every Saturday with cascading effects over the weekend: you pull in the free training, you pull into qualifying, less to a side event – Marquez pole yesterday and he starts ahead of everyone today – he pulls into the Sprint.
Bagnaia won because he stayed out of trouble, after the title he is much more confident and aware of his strength and that of the Desmosedici, he used his best weapons to bend Martin, on the Pramac Ducati. Waiting for a small mistake from the Spaniard to pass him, he thinks like a world champion: «The real points are on Sunday, the most important thing on Saturday is to stay ahead and not win at all costs. Last year we complained about the lack of overtakes and now we complain about too many overtakes? The right size has to be found, even on the track». The organizers and the riders will have to work on it, because yesterday it sometimes seemed like a struggle. Only that real barrels flew. “Certain situations should be better regulated,” he says Claudio Domenicali, CEO of Ducati – some were really too excited ». Carlo Pernat, Bastianini’s manager: «I’m inc…, two riders in hospital in two days. The race management should give severe measures to those who exaggerate, if everything goes unpunished there is a risk of serious accidents ».
The Romagnolo broke his right shoulder blade and will return to Italy on Monday for further tests. The fracture has healed, so there is hope he can return to Austin the weekend of April 14-16. In the meantime, Hondo Ducati will only use Pecco’s engine here and at Termas de Rio. The accident was caused by the fall of Luca Marini: “The contact occurred after I slipped: Enea went wide – explains Valentino Rossi’s brother -, I tried to tighten the track, but I bent a degree more and my front ditch. Unfortunately my bike hit him, I was just trying to make my line and he made his. I’m very sorry. But in this MotoGP you can’t go wrong, we’re all going to the limit». Almost everyone, not Bagnaia: “I pushed a lot more in the tests than in the sprint race.” His secret may be in patience
Source: Corriere
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