MotoGP Japan J3, Enea Bastianini (Ducati/4): “Brad Binder slowed me down, he drives strangely”

Not the dream race for Enea Bastianini in Japan. While he finished in the top 3 of the Sprint yesterday, his Grand Prix proved to be much more difficult. He started well, but quickly found himself stuck behind Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez, but he had all the difficulties in the world to overtake Brad Binder. Too late, he no longer had enough resources to catch up with Marc Marquez at the very end of the race, but still remained third in the general classification by just a few points. Despite this, a fourth place is still a good result, he has no reason to complain.

Enea Bastianini was quite disappointed at the finish, and in a way, we can understand him. His racing philosophy, which consists of revealing himself later in the race thanks to conservative riding, did not pay off. « The course of this race was quite unexpected.. After being passed by Brad Binder, Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin got in my way. At turn 11, I couldn't see anything anymore, I had to manage » he said to the microphones of Sky Sports after arrival.

 

 

Then, on his way back, he found himself stuck behind Brad Binder. The KTM official, with his unorthodox style, is difficult to overtake. "I lost a lot of time behind him. He drives in a strange way. He brakes very hard, stops almost in the middle of the turn, and starts off again in slow motion.. Every time I have Brad in front of me, he slows me down a lot." he continued, in a rather interesting explanation which illustrates the singularity of the South African.

 

 

From there, getting on the podium became a difficult mission. On a track that exhausts the tires, Bastianini no longer had anything to answer to Marc Marquez, even if we thought for a while that they were going to do a remake of yesterday's Sprint. « To overtake Brad, I had to take strange trajectories, to which I was not accustomed.. I used a lot of rubber, and the front tyre pressure kept increasing. I tried to catch Marc, but he had a good pace." he concluded.

Do you think Enea Bastianini will finish third in the world championship, ahead of Marc Marquez? Tell us in the comments!

2024 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix result: 

 

 

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport