Enea Bastianini did more than mark the occasion on her land of Rimini by reaching the podium of the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano. This as a rookie and at the helm of a GP19, and with flying colors. From 12th to 3rd place, he gave it his all, overtaking more experienced drivers, including Marc Marquez, and race winners and even setting the fastest lap of the race.
Enea Bastianini has been hovering around a good result for his first year in MotoGP for a while. This big day arrived in Misano, at the end of a race led with panache which he finished squarely on the podium with an antique GP19. This machine which allowed him to race this year in the World Championship was renowned for its strong acceleration and top speed, but it was also criticized for its tendency to understeer, which often made it a difficult bike to control on certain tracks.
Enea Bastianini's GP19 is two years older than its factory counterparts and in those two years we have seen the beautiful reds of Bologna continually evolve and the GP21 has taken a huge step forward from the GP19.
Rookie Enea Bastianini has made big progress in 2021: after discovering the MotoGP category by testing his Ducati GP19 for the first time during pre-season testing at the start of this year, he was very impressive from the start and n stopped progressing during the year.
The Ducati Desmosedici GP19 ridden by Enea Bastianini is the same bike that Andrea Dovizioso used during the 2019 season, and which allowed him to finish vice-world champion. But now this bike is two years old and as with everything in MotoGP, the prototypes are developing and improving. Also, the Italian rider's machine does not have the same specifications as his factory counterparts from other Ducati teams, meaning he starts at a disadvantage. The GP19 was a prototype that struggled with understeer, making it a difficult bike to use in fast corners as it is harder to put on the corner than competing machines.
While the GP19 isn't radically different from the latter's GP21, the latter features an older aerodynamic package, an older engine, an older chassis specification and much more.
The GP21 quite clearly shares a large part of its DNA with the GP19, which we observe when we compare it with the two versions, from Enea Bastianini for the older one, or from Jack Miller for the more advanced version. But there are some crucial things that have changed to take a big step forward from its predecessor.
One of the biggest developments of this year's Ducati is that it is much more consistent on the tire side, it corners better than any other Ducati that had been developed so far. Improvements to the chassis, engine and aerodynamics have all added up to improve its performance. Jack Miller and Pecco Bagnaia, the two factory riders, were both very complimentary of the Ducati on the final fast corner at Aragon, saying they could keep the throttle open consistently whereas previously they had to play with the throttle, constantly playing with the level of grip and stability they had at steep leans.
In this photo, it is a Ducati GP19 seen during the 2019 end of season testing in Jerez. This is actually the prototype that Tito Rabat used in 2020, and it's the same version that Enea Bastianini is using this year.
The Ducati chassis has undergone constant evolution since 2016, when the engineers at Borgo Panigale understood the direction they needed to take for their machine to be efficient. The 2019 chassis was quite stiff, there was this big weld that ran along the main frame beam and it was this weld that they changed for 2020 that seemed to be a big factor regarding the handling of the Desmosedici .
Also, Enea Bastianini finds herself using this chassis. Known for his understeer, it is a feat that on the last two circuits he managed to achieve his two best results of the season. Two circuits where having a prototype that understeers is massively counterproductive.
The other thing to see here is the famous Salad Box, which houses several small mass dampers. They tune the frequencies on the machine, helping to eliminate small vibrations allowing a slightly improved relationship between the rear tire and the tarmac. Tire life in the Michelin era is so crucial that any small advantage can go a long way.
Another important development for 2021 at Ducati concerns the aerodynamic package: the first two sets of fins of the GP21 are not very different from those of the GP19. Only slight changes regarding their size and profile on the GP21.
But most of the changes concern the part located at the bottom of the side fairing. It is these ducts which seem to have injected a certain stability into the Ducati. They actually work opposite to the top two aileron sets as they do not produce downforce, but actually produce a small amount of lift. They are believed to make the motorcycle more stable at high speeds, then on the corner they can also produce a certain level of downforce, as the outer part of the duct is parallel to the tarmac surface
The character of the Ducati's engine has also been worked on. With the pandemic causing a freeze in the technical development of the engine, Ducati did so by evolving its exhaust.
This photo shows the 2019 exhaust on a 2019 factory Ducati. It is the same one that Enea Bastianini uses. The 2021 version is different: its output is much straighter. The exhaust pipe designer's job is to create a wide enough engine torque zone that the rider, using the gearbox, can keep the engine in that zone most of the time.
With this exhaust evolution, over the last two seasons, Ducati riders insist that the character of the Desmosedici's engine has become much smoother on a trickle of throttle and it is very likely that this exhaust will not. or not for nothing.
Enea Bastianini also does not have the Holeshot Device on the front of his machine, unlike the factory riders. Here, the front of his GP19 is fully extended when starting, which is very different from the factory machines which have the device at the front and rear.
It's probably a detail, but you can't win a race on the first lap but you certainly can lose it and when all your competitors have both front and rear Holsehot Devices.
Here the factory GP21 is much lower at the front. This helps riders get a better start by changing the geometry of the machine. Lowering the center of gravity limits wheelie potential and keeping the front wheel on or as close to the ground as possible is key to getting a good start.
We check that Enea Bastianini only has the device at the rear: on top of the triple clamp, it has only one lever to operate it.
On Pecco Bagnaia's machine, there are two levers: one for the front, and one for the rear.
Finally, and this is not insignificant, Enea Bastianini has done an incredible job this season. Certainly, Brad Binder won a race last year as a rookie, or Fabio Quartararo got on the podium numerous times while also being a rookie, but these are all very different scenarios.
Enea Bastianini has at his disposal on the oldest bike on the grid, on the team with the least factory support on the grid and he is doing all this at a time when the standard in MotoGP is so much higher that it a few seasons ago.
To put things into perspective, in the opening race of the 2021 season in Qatar, Enea Bastianini, in her premier class debut, set a total race time one second slower than Andrea Dovizioso on the same machine in 2019 when he won the race.
If we return to Misano, the last race contested so far in 2021, Enea Bastianini's race time was 46s faster than that of the highest ranked Ducati in 2019. Obviously, the tires have changed since then and this can never be taken as a direct comparison. The tires now finally allow drivers to go faster and are much more consistent than in 2019, but the fact remains that you still have to set the lap time, and a good machine without a good driver is nothing.
The fact remains that Enea Bastianini is making waves in Ducati's third category team, and it's a safe bet that he will be of interest to several teams when his contract is up.
Photos: Dorna Sports
