Bastianini’s Fierce Battle with Marquez in Motegi: A Sprint to Remember

Enea Bastianini exerted unprecedented effort to outpace Marc Marquez in the Motegi MotoGP sprint, declaring, "I emerged victorious in this battle."

Enea Bastianini expressed that he exerted unprecedented effort to surpass Marc Marquez and secure the second-place spot during their contest in the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix sprint.

Starting from fourth position on the grid, the Ducati team's racer quickly advanced to second place by the first turn, but was shortly after passed by Tech3's Pedro Acosta.

In the final stages of the race, Bastianini was engaged in an intense competition for the second spot with Gresini Ducati's Marquez, following Acosta's crash from the leading position. The duo exchanged places at Turns 9, 10, and 11 during the second-to-last lap.

Ultimately, Marquez had to admit loss, as Bagnaia's slow final lap brought Bastianini within a mere 0.181 seconds of winning.

"Today's battle was a good one," Bastianini shared with TNT Sport.

"I didn't have the assurance to perform as impressively as I managed today in the race."

"Indeed, it's enhancing my speed since during the time trial I performed well, but when it came to maintaining speed, it was somewhat inconsistent."

Ultimately, the battle reached its climax in the final two laps with Marc. I made a slight error at Turn 9, allowing Marc to pass through.

We reached Turn 11 almost simultaneously, both easing off the brake slightly, and then once more.

"In the final moments, I found myself in a more advantageous position and gave it my all like never before on the last lap, ultimately clinching the victory. Securing second place feels great."

Bastianini's second-place finish in the sprint race has maintained his position in third place in the standings, holding a five-point advantage over Marquez.

However, Bastianini is not focused on their battle to secure a spot in the top three of the championship standings as the grand prix on Sunday approaches.

"Whenever it matters, I make it a point to battle and typically, I don't look at the standings," he further mentioned.

"My sole focus is always to reach the pinnacle of success."

"Tomorrow, we'll need to make some adjustments to the setup because by the end, my rear tire, particularly on the right side, was completely worn out."

"Tomorrow, it's likely we'll go with the medium option for the race. Therefore, we need to review the data to repeat the process."

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