There wasn’t a dry eye left in the Gresini Ducati garage as Enea Bastianini secured a maiden MotoGP win at the Grand Prix of Qatar on Sunday. The Italian’s victory at the Losail International Circuit was an emotional one for Gresini after team founder Fausto Gresini – a double 125cc world champion in the 1980s – died in February last year after a lengthy battle with Covid-19.
After Fausto’s passing away, his wife Padovani took charge of the independent team and partnered with Ducati to field 2021-spec bikes for the new season. As Bastianini took the chequered flag yesterday, team principal Padovani broke down in tears as she was mobbed by the crew.
Bastianini himself was emotional as the rider celebrated wildly and later dedicated his first victory in motorcycling's premier class to former team boss Fausto.
"I think now it's incredible," said Bastianini, the Moto2 champion in 2020 who rejoined Gresini Racing this season after beginning his career with the team in Moto3. "I dedicate this victory to Fausto. He pushed me a lot from the skies, and it's fantastic for all the team. I think we've all been crying," the 24-year-old added.
After overtaking Honda's Pol Espargaro on lap 19, Bastianini – who started from second – had to stave off a late challenge from Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder. The South African Binder, who made a blistering start from seventh on the grid, ran out of laps to challenge Bastianini to finish ahead of Espargaro.
Spaniard Espargaro led for most of the race, before he was out-dragged by Bastianini, with the Honda rider’s hopes of fighting back ending at Turn 1 when he ran out wide and let Binder through.
Espargaro’s mistake allowed Bastianini to put 1.3s between himself and the rest of the pack, though Binder would come back towards him on the final lap. But Bastianini would keep it clean to get to the chequered flag 0.346s clear of Binder, while Espargaro gave the radically revised 2022 Honda its first podium in third.
"At the end Pol was really close to me. I understood that now I could try to win the race, and I overtook Pol on the first corner after he went out," said Bastianini.
Espargaro’s brother Aleix on an Aprilia was fourth ahead of Honda's six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez. Suzuki duo Joan Mir and Alex Rins failed to replicate their success from practice, crossing the line in sixth and seventh respectively. Reigning champion Fabio Quartararo of France finished ninth after a challenging weekend on his Yamaha.
Pole-sitter Jorge Martin made a horror start and slid to eighth on the opening lap, before the Pramac Ducati was taken out by factory Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia on lap 12. After Martin’s terrible start, it was Pol Espargaro who shot into the lead with Honda teammate Marquez second.
While Espargaro kept Marquez at bay the latter ran wide at Turn 1 to allow Binder ahead. Meanwhile, further back Bagnaia’s factory Ducati teammate Jack Miller had to retire at the end of lap seven with a technical issue as the Australian stormed out of the paddock after going in.
The nightmare for Ducati continued on lap 12 when Bagnaia crashed trying to overtake Martin at Turn 1 and took the Pramac rider with him.
Espargaro, meanwhile, extended his lead to more than a second on lap 13, with Binder coming under intense pressure from Bastianini and Marquez. A lap later, Bastianini – in his second season in MotoGP –cleared Binder at Turn 1 and began to close in on Espargaro’s lead. The pressure paid off when Bastianini overtook Espargaro with four laps to go, using the Honda rider's slipstream before he went wide in an attempt to defend his position and dropped to third.
After a humbling start to his title defence, Quartararo said he was “worried” about his title defence. “Well, knowing that last year we won both races in Qatar and now we finish basically behind, quite far back, of course I’m worried,” the Frenchman said.
“I will not say I’m confident. We made the fourth row, going to Q1 in Qatar. So, I will say I cannot be super confident. But I’ll always say, I am not an engineer. My job is to give 100% and focus for every race, and I give my 100% in every condition; if I’m fighting for the victory, P3, P5, P9, I give my 100%,” he said.
Martin, who clinched pole in Saturday’s qualifying, was more concerned about his pace than being taken out of the race by Bagnaia. "I didn't start well, anyway I was still top three, but I got close to Enea and had to close the throttle. A lot of riders overtook me and from then everything went wrong," Martin said.
"Actually, it was the first time I had a fear about my life because I was really fast into the gravel between both bikes and I think I pushed one bike, Pecco's bike, with my hand," he added.
Meanwhile, Celestino Vietti of Kalex emerged winner in the Moto2 race while Andrea Migno claimed Moto3 victory on his Honda. The Grand Prix of Qatar was the first of a record 21-race season, with the next race scheduled for March 20 in Indonesia.
Grand Prix Qatar results
MotoGP: 1. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati-Gresini) 42min 13.198sec, 2. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) at 0.346sec, 3. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda) 1.351, 4. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 2.242, 5. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 4.099, 6. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 4.843, 7. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 8.810, 8. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 10.536, 9. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 10.543, 10. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 14.967
World championship standings
1. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati-Gresini) 25 pts, 2. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 20, 3. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda) 16, 4. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 13, 5. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 11, 6. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 10, 7. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 9, 8. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 8, 9. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 7, 10. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 6
After Fausto’s passing away, his wife Padovani took charge of the independent team and partnered with Ducati to field 2021-spec bikes for the new season. As Bastianini took the chequered flag yesterday, team principal Padovani broke down in tears as she was mobbed by the crew.
Bastianini himself was emotional as the rider celebrated wildly and later dedicated his first victory in motorcycling's premier class to former team boss Fausto.
"I think now it's incredible," said Bastianini, the Moto2 champion in 2020 who rejoined Gresini Racing this season after beginning his career with the team in Moto3. "I dedicate this victory to Fausto. He pushed me a lot from the skies, and it's fantastic for all the team. I think we've all been crying," the 24-year-old added.
After overtaking Honda's Pol Espargaro on lap 19, Bastianini – who started from second – had to stave off a late challenge from Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder. The South African Binder, who made a blistering start from seventh on the grid, ran out of laps to challenge Bastianini to finish ahead of Espargaro.
Spaniard Espargaro led for most of the race, before he was out-dragged by Bastianini, with the Honda rider’s hopes of fighting back ending at Turn 1 when he ran out wide and let Binder through.
Espargaro’s mistake allowed Bastianini to put 1.3s between himself and the rest of the pack, though Binder would come back towards him on the final lap. But Bastianini would keep it clean to get to the chequered flag 0.346s clear of Binder, while Espargaro gave the radically revised 2022 Honda its first podium in third.
"At the end Pol was really close to me. I understood that now I could try to win the race, and I overtook Pol on the first corner after he went out," said Bastianini.
Espargaro’s brother Aleix on an Aprilia was fourth ahead of Honda's six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez. Suzuki duo Joan Mir and Alex Rins failed to replicate their success from practice, crossing the line in sixth and seventh respectively. Reigning champion Fabio Quartararo of France finished ninth after a challenging weekend on his Yamaha.
Pole-sitter Jorge Martin made a horror start and slid to eighth on the opening lap, before the Pramac Ducati was taken out by factory Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia on lap 12. After Martin’s terrible start, it was Pol Espargaro who shot into the lead with Honda teammate Marquez second.
While Espargaro kept Marquez at bay the latter ran wide at Turn 1 to allow Binder ahead. Meanwhile, further back Bagnaia’s factory Ducati teammate Jack Miller had to retire at the end of lap seven with a technical issue as the Australian stormed out of the paddock after going in.
The nightmare for Ducati continued on lap 12 when Bagnaia crashed trying to overtake Martin at Turn 1 and took the Pramac rider with him.
Espargaro, meanwhile, extended his lead to more than a second on lap 13, with Binder coming under intense pressure from Bastianini and Marquez. A lap later, Bastianini – in his second season in MotoGP –cleared Binder at Turn 1 and began to close in on Espargaro’s lead. The pressure paid off when Bastianini overtook Espargaro with four laps to go, using the Honda rider's slipstream before he went wide in an attempt to defend his position and dropped to third.
After a humbling start to his title defence, Quartararo said he was “worried” about his title defence. “Well, knowing that last year we won both races in Qatar and now we finish basically behind, quite far back, of course I’m worried,” the Frenchman said.
“I will not say I’m confident. We made the fourth row, going to Q1 in Qatar. So, I will say I cannot be super confident. But I’ll always say, I am not an engineer. My job is to give 100% and focus for every race, and I give my 100% in every condition; if I’m fighting for the victory, P3, P5, P9, I give my 100%,” he said.
Martin, who clinched pole in Saturday’s qualifying, was more concerned about his pace than being taken out of the race by Bagnaia. "I didn't start well, anyway I was still top three, but I got close to Enea and had to close the throttle. A lot of riders overtook me and from then everything went wrong," Martin said.
"Actually, it was the first time I had a fear about my life because I was really fast into the gravel between both bikes and I think I pushed one bike, Pecco's bike, with my hand," he added.
Meanwhile, Celestino Vietti of Kalex emerged winner in the Moto2 race while Andrea Migno claimed Moto3 victory on his Honda. The Grand Prix of Qatar was the first of a record 21-race season, with the next race scheduled for March 20 in Indonesia.
Grand Prix Qatar results
MotoGP: 1. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati-Gresini) 42min 13.198sec, 2. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) at 0.346sec, 3. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda) 1.351, 4. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 2.242, 5. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 4.099, 6. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 4.843, 7. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 8.810, 8. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 10.536, 9. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 10.543, 10. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 14.967
World championship standings
1. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Ducati-Gresini) 25 pts, 2. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 20, 3. Pol Espargaro (ESP/Honda) 16, 4. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 13, 5. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 11, 6. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 10, 7. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) 9, 8. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 8, 9. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 7, 10. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 6
