Enea Bastianini hailed his late-race push to second place in the Italian Grand Prix as “special” as his MotoGP prospects with the factory Ducati squad remain unclear.
Bastianini completed two stunning moves on Gresini’s Marquez and Pramac’s Jorge Martin in the closing two laps to snatch second place and a 1-2 result for Ducati.
The Italian’s result was his first time on the rostrum since the Americas Grand Prix and comes amid growing reports that he will vacate his seat at the end of this term.
“[It] feels so special because I come from a difficult moment, it happened during this whole past week,” he said in reference to the speculation surrounding his future.
“But this week we had a result in mind and from yesterday I improved and I was fast. Today I was really motivated to do something more for me but also for all the people here.
“I slept a little bit during the half part of the race but when Marc overtook me I closed my mind and said that: ‘No, it’s not correct. No. This is my podium.’
“I came back. I am riding like never [before]. It was good. Also the last lap I overtake Jorge and it was too dangerous but at the end I can be happy.”
Bastianini’s fitness struggles stumped his progress last term and has meant Marquez and Martin have emerged as the likeliest names to partner Francesco Bagnaia.
However, the Ducati rider, who has been linked with a potential switch to Aprilia for 2025, stated that he wanted to relish the “beautiful” result he obtained at Mugello.
“I want to think about the present because we think a lot about the future but I want to enjoy this day, because it has been really difficult this period,” he added.
“I committed some mistakes, also the team has committed some mistakes.
“Today is a really beautiful day. Usually, I’m not really happy about second place but today I’m really happy and I don’t want to think about the future.”
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