When you see Enea Bastianini in shorts and a T-shirt, moving slowly through the paddock of the MotoGP World Championship, you have the feeling that she is not in her natural habitat, that her place would be on a Pacific beach, with a surfboard and the sun tanning his rebellious boy face.
However, at only 24 years old and in his second season in the premier class, the rider from Rimini amazed the world by achieving victory in his first race with the re-founded Gresini Racing Team, in Qatar, confirming his status as a revelation driver and candidate for the title. being the only one, so far, capable of repeating victory, in the Grand Prix of the Americas, making it clear that despite his hippie surfer image, his place is not under a palm tree, rather on top of a podium. Although they don’t like interviews, Motorsport.com had the opportunity last week in Jerez to have a long and pleasant conversation with ‘the beast’.
Ask. Two months have passed since your first victory in MotoGP, looking back, what is the first thing that comes to mind that day?
Response. A great feeling, an explosion of emotions, nobody expected it. It’s true that after qualifying on Saturday I had a feeling I could do it, but until you’re in the race you don’t know how it’s going to end. It has been, without a doubt, a magical day for the whole team.
Q. The victory had a great symbolic value as it was the first for Gresini Racing in MotoGP after the death of Fausto , but also the first for an Italian rider after the withdrawal of Valentino Rossi. Does Italian motorcycling need a reference after the march of ’46?
R. Surely Valentino’s withdrawal has left a huge void in Italy and it is logical that someone be sought to fill his position, although what he did is something unique and unrepeatable. It is obvious that I would like, I am not saying to occupy his position, but to be now the reference Italian pilot. It would definitely be a great result for me.”
Q. Without a doubt Bastianini is, right now, one of the strongest and most recognized Italian pilots, however he is one of the few that has never been part of the Valentino VR46 Academy . Why have you never been part of the ‘Rossi clan’?
The iconic photo of the podium of Qatar, with Enea Bastianini and Nadia Padovani, la viuda de Fausto Gresini
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
R. Actually when I arrived at the World Cup (2014) the academy was still starting and I didn’t feel the need to be there, since I was already in the championship, unlike other guys who maybe weren’t in the World Cup yet. I met Fausto (Gresini) and his entire team, I always felt good with them and I liked training on my own. Let’s say it was a bit of a strange way of thinking, because Valentino’s proposal to go running for him existed. But I preferred to follow my own path knowing what my character was like, especially when I was young, now I have grown and changed, but as a child I was very, very stubborn.
Q. Have you ever regretted having made that decision?
R. Nerd. I think I made the right decision.”
P. Consequently, does it have more merit to have come this far not having been a protégé of Rossi?
R. In reality it has surely been difficult. VR46 is a very big power in the World Championship and growing up alone, without being able to count on anyone’s help or train with other riders or receive advice from Valentino, has made it more difficult for me. In any case, it has not been a problem for me, the merit has been mine and the people who have believed in me from the first moment, as Fausto did”.
Q. Bastianini made the leap to MotoGP in 2021 as Moto2 world champion. What made you happier, that world title or winning the race in Qatar?
R. It is difficult to say because there have been two very strong emotions, one because you make a dream come true and the other because you feel fulfilled as a pilot. When you win a race in MotoGP you say: ‘OK, that’s it, you’ve achieved the most a rider can aspire to’.
Q. You were always a fast and special rider, but in your first six years in the World Championship (2014-2019) you only achieved three victories. The ‘beast’ was unleashed in 2020, with the Moto2 title and, above all, at the start of the 2022 season. How did you go from being just another rider to being a race winner and title candidate?
R. I don’t know, surely my biggest jump was in Moto2, when I went to Italtrans (2019). I realized my true potential and began to believe in myself a little more. I understood that only with talent you don’t get anywhere, you need other things, I tried to modify my method of working at home and also the approach to the great prizes in the box. A great result came with the Moto2 title and in 2021, with Avintia, we managed to achieve incredible results, always believing and being aware of my potential, and also that of the team.
Enea Bastianini in the Sherry paddock
Photo by: Germain Garcia Casanova
Q. It was always said of Bastianini that he was a rider with a lot of talent but with little desire to work. It is true?
A. Yes, it is. Let’s say that I have always experienced motorcycles as fun. Let’s say that I liked to work as little as possible, but not because I didn’t like to work, but because I thought I didn’t need it and thought ‘what I do is enough’, imagine! (laughs). Then I realized that it wasn’t really like that. Fortunately I think I have evolved a lot in my career, I think two or three years ago I understood what the key was to become an important and competitive driver.
P. Two wins this year, you are the one who has won the most. Do you see yourself as a candidate to fight for the title?
R. I think it can be achieved but it will be very difficult because this year the level is very high, between finishing first or fifth in a race there is only a snap of the fingers. It will be important to be consistent, not make mistakes like Portimao (he fell) and always score points.
Q. When you can’t win, the key should be to finish in the top 5.
R. The goal is to always stay in the top 5, but it’s not easy. In Portimao I would have had to be content with a sixth or seventh position, and not go looking for what I didn’t have.
Q. A rider from a private team has never won the MotoGP title. Can that change?
R. That’s true, but I think it can change, why not? We have a very fast bike and I think that with the support of Ducati to continue working calmly, a private team can become a MotoGP champion.”
Q. In a utopian world where you could run a race against five or six drivers from the history of motorcycling, which ones would you choose?
R. Casey Stoner (releases like a spring, without hesitation, before meditating for a few seconds and continuing), Marc (Márquez), although we already know that I can now run against him, I would really like Kevin Schwantz , also Mick Doohan , the ‘SIC ‘ ( Marco Simoncelli ) and the last one… (he thinks), also Valentino, obviously. She had taken him for granted.
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