Only a Brad Binder in great shape prevented Enea Bastianini to claim the victory in today’s Grand Prix of San Marino and Riviera di Rimini at Misano: the Gresini Racing Team Moto3 rider fought till the very last lap to try to replicate the last year’s stunning victory on his home circuit, but the South African to defend well in the last corner, thus cross the finish line in front of Bastianini for 0.2 seconds.
Enea still rode a great race: after a good start, together with Binder he opened a gap over the other riders of the leading group and from lap nine onwards he followed closely from behind the South African rival. The 18-year-old rider from Rimini then passed Binder with five laps to go, taking the lead. Passed again by Binder just a few corners from the chequered flag, Enea launched his final attack on the last corner, but Binder was very good closing the inside line. With this second place Bastianini is now in second place in the overall standings with 123 points.
The other Gresini Racing Team Moto3 rider, Fabio Di Giannantonio, crossed the finish line in tenth position: the 17-year-old rookie from Rome therefore clinched another top ten finish in a still difficult race. After losing some ground in the early stages, “Diggia” had to push to catch the leading group, struggling with tyres from mid-race onwards.
Bastianini: The goal is to keep second in the championship
“Binder maintained a good pace throughout the race, and today he really made the difference. When I was following him closely, maybe it could appear that it was easy for me, but only because I didn’t want to pass him in the long straight to not break the rhythm: by doing so we were able to open a gap on the other riders. Later, in the final stages of the race, I passed Binder to take the lead, but then he was good to pass me again, winning the race. Too bad only for the final attack: I felt strong enough in the last corner, and after his pass I was already thinking to fight back on that corner. Brad was good to close the inside line though, and it was not possible to pass. Now I’m second in the championship: Binder is far away, so the goal is to keep the second position, but as long as we have a possibility, we will always try to attack, till the end!”
Di Giannantonio: The bike was moving a lot
“At the start of the race I immediately pushed hard to try to stay in the leading group, but another rider made me lose a bit of time and therefore I had to close the gap, pushing again. In a few laps I was able to catch the group, however, because of this effort midway through the race I started to struggle with tyres. The bike was moving a lot, especially at the rear, and in the last few laps it was really difficult to keep pushing. For this reason I had to settle for tenth position”.
Kiko Giles @MotoGPKiko