Fausto Gresini must have jumped for joy in heaven yesterday. Italy’s former motorcycle world champion, a gray eminence in the World Cup paddock, died last year of pneumonia after a corona disease at the age of just 60, his legacy will be continued with the Gresini team. Yesterday, compatriot Enea Bastianini gave him victory in the premier class MotoGP on a year-old Ducati at the season opener in Qatar. The KTM racing team celebrated Brad Binder’s second place in the floodlit race, while defending champion Fabio Quartararo only finished ninth on his Yamaha, as did the Ducati factory team with Pecco Bagnaia, pole setter Jorge Martin, and Jack Miller (Task) had to cope with a total failure.
Gresini’s widow Nadia Padovani had tears running down the command center at the Losail International Circuit even during the race. The 24-year-old Bastianini, who had already demonstrated his strength with a best time in the winter tests, caught up with the long-leading Spaniard Pol Espargaro (Honda) in the last third of the race and overtook him. Espargaro then made a mistake in the first corner, which then dropped him back to third place behind Binder. It should stay that way until the end of the race. Eight-time world champion Marc Marquez also had nothing to oppose in fifth place behind his Spanish compatriot Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia).
“It’s such an emotional moment for us and the whole team, we all cried,” said Bastianini, who narrowly avoided a serious accident at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix in Moto2.
On the other hand, the atmosphere in the KTM pits was positive yesterday, where after a mixed pre-season and no good results in Qatar so far, a lot was unclear. Up to Binder’s hussar ride to second place. “It’s absolutely amazing to finish on the podium here,” exulted Motorsport Director Pit Beirer.
Rossi’s team with two wins
Even if the boss, as the new father of a daughter, preferred to stay at home, the VR46 team made Valentino Rossi very happy. In the Moto2 class, victory went to the Italian Celestino Vietti from the motorcycle legend’s junior academy, while Andrea Migno, an Italian from the forge of the man from Tavullia, also won the Moto3. However, Migno benefited from the bad luck of the Japanese Ayumu Sasaki, who was already leading by several seconds, but whose fairing on his Husqvarna then came off after a highside.
The next World Championship race will now take place in Mandalika (Indonesia) in two weeks. (free)
Source: Nachrichten
