MotoGP Catalunya: Bastianini unsigned but ‘will remain with Ducati’

Gresini Racing’s Enea Bastianini is hoping Barcelona can produce a fourth podium, or victory, of the Italian’s 2022 MotoGP season.

A third crash of the Mugello weekend brought Bastianini’s home race to a premature conclusion ten laps from the end, as he ran sixth. The Italian is aware that consistency is the goal if he wants to challenge the front runners in the title race as the year hots up.

“I have to be more consistent because I make a really good races but also not really nice, like in Mugello, in Portimao,” Bastianini admitted. “I have to do more to stay more concentrated in the future and also to enjoy it.

“In Le Mans, but also in Mugello I miss a little bit of feeling on the front, especially in entry on the corner,” he said of the two most recent weekends which saw him extend the crash budget of the Gresini team by a considerable margin. “I think we understand why it’s stayed difficult for me to stop at the bike from braking straight. We know what we have to modify on the setup to resolve this problem.”

Turning his attention to round nine and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which saw the 24-year-old secure a top ten finish in his first season on premier class machinery, Bastianini is full of confidence thanks to the GP21 now at his disposal.

“Montmelo is a nice track for me,” he confirmed. “It’s fast but also very technical. I come from not really beautiful race in Mugello, I crash but I’m motivated to start in the best mood here.

“The last year it has been a little bit complicated for me, the first time with the MotoGP, the grip of the asphalt is not too much and I have to adapt a little bit my style this year. We will see what we can do and we have to do the 100 per cent.

“I don’t know for the moment the