Enea Bastianini insists that he “tried to win” the Malaysian Grand Prix despite finishing just behind MotoGP championship-leading Ducati stablemate Francesco Bagnaia.
The latter started the Sepang round, the second-last of the season, with a 14-point margin over Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and got tantalisingly close to what would have been an unassailable lead during the weekend’s 20-lap race.
He had inherited first position on the road when yet another Ducati-contracted rider, Prima Pramac Racing’s Jorge Martin, crashed on Lap 7, but lost it when he was passed by Bastianini on Lap 11.
Bagnaia regained top spot on Lap 14 but could not shake the Gresini Racing entry for the six which remained, and both got quite loose as they pushed hard on worn tyres on the final lap at Turn 9.
They took the chequered flag 0.270s apart and ‘Pecco’ will start the Valencia round with a 23-point gap to Quartararo, meaning he need only finish 14th in the final race of the campaign to clinch his first premier class riders’ title.
Bastianini recounted, “When I saw this [Martin crash], I understood that it’s my moment and I tried to go in front.
“I overtook Pecco in Turn number 4 and then tried to manage the tyre in the best way possible but after two or three laps something changed.
“Especially on the right side, it was impossible for me to be fast in the middle of the corner and my exit was a disaster.
“After that, Pecco caught me again and passed me.
“Then, I tried to be close all the race with him but in the last lap it was impossible to attack him.”
He said that a message on his own pit board which informed him that Bagnaia was the rider behind when he was leading the race made no difference to his attempts to steal the victory from his future team-mate.
“I see the board all the time, every lap, if I don’t crash,” said ‘La Bestia’.
“I tried to do the maximum and when I saw this on the board, I knew I had to be careful because I repeat again, for Ducati it is important [to win] the title but I tried to win today.”
Asked if the pit board message meant he did not try to pass Bagnaia for first spot on the final lap, Bagnaia stated, “No.”
Davide Tardozzi, boss at the Ducati Lenovo Team which wrapped up the teams’ title with the Malaysia result, claimed that the Bologna manufacturer ‘trusted’ its riders despite the obvious nerves and some seemingly tense conversations on the pit wall.
He says they will have the same instructions for the Valencia Grand Prix, on November 4-6 (local time), when Bagnaia could win Ducati’s first riders’ championship since Casey Stoner’s in 2007.
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