QUALIFYING

Enea Bastianini skipped Q1 for the first time of the season this morning after the Italian’s 8th position in Practice got him a direct Q2 ticket. Track conditions were much better today, with the sun shining again in Republic Czech, and a dry track awaiting the qualifying sessions. After a final FP2 to get all geared up, Enea Bastianini took off for his first Q2 in KTM orange, and he started with a first fast lap in 1’53.494 to take a provisional 9th place after the first run. The exit for run 2 was intense, with many riders waiting for Marc Marquez’ wheel. Enea managed to exit as planned, behind Alex Marquez, and with the two red Ducatis ahead. These 3 were having some battles, a bit weird in qualifying, but that still allowed Enea to set himself up with a good pace. First flying lap was cancelled following a yellow flag, and in the next lap, Enea found himself a bit blocked by Francesco Bagnaia. Still, he improved to a late 1’53.317, which gave him the 11th place on the grid, his best of the season! Just before that, Pol Espargaro had given us a solid run in qualifying 1. Mainly working on his own, the #44 started with a 1’53.163 placing him in a provisional 2nd position heading to run number 2. He immediately improved on the first flying lap, to a 1’53.021, which kept him in P2, but late improvements from Fabio Di Giannantonio and Raul Fernandez saw him drop to 4th, meaning P14 on the grid for ‘Polyccio’!

TISSOT SPRINT

When lights were out at 15:00 to give the go for 10 laps of craziness of the first ever sprint race in Brno, Enea Bastianini took a solid launch, to hold his ground at the braking of T1. It was elbow-to-elbow for all, but ‘Bestia’ was hungry, and he overtook three riders in the first lap to come out of lap 1 in 8th, behind returning World Champion Jorge Martin. At the front, Marc Marquez had already taken the lead in the opening lap. Lap 2 was a crazy one for Enea. First he moved past Martin to 7th, and then a few turns later he overcame Raul Fernandez to 6th. Then contact was made between Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo in their battle for the provisional podium. Enea took the opportunity to move on the inside of Bezzecchi, and that was P5 after just two laps! The Frenchman was his next target. Feeling confident, Bestia was closing on the number 20, and the battle for 4th was definitively on entering lap 4, with Bastianini just 0.086 seconds from Quartararo. The Yamaha Factory rider defended very well, until Enea saw an opportunity in the final corner, and he made a nice and smooth move on the inside of Fabio, to enter lap 5 in 4th. Ex-teammate Francesco Bagnaia was the next target of an in-form Bastianini, who progressed to 3rd on lap 5. Incredible race so far from the Italian! 1.018 seconds then separated him from Pedro Acosta, who was ‘handed’ the lead by Marc Marquez in the next lap. The pace of the front 2 was solid, and Enea was trying to defend his ground from the Bezzecchi’s threat who was coming back quickly. Job accomplished for Bestia who gave his all to hold that 3rd place until the very end, to jump on the podium for the first time of the season! Congrats Enea and team, so much deserved! Pol Espargaro did not make noise, but he did a great job in the shadows! When lights were out, Pol took a rocket start from 14th to 10th in the opening lap, to sit right behind Johann Zarco. The Frenchman moved past Martin, and while he settled into his pace, Pol progressively closed the gap on the Aprilia rider, until he was able to move past the World Champion on lap 8, to 9th. The Red Bull KTM Factory test rider saw the checkered flag in 9th to grab one well-earned first point in the championship!

It was a solid day for the orange squad in Brno, with Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Bastianini and Espargaro both in the points, in addition to Pedro Acosta sharing the sprint podium with Enea, with a P2. Brno is doing us well so far, let’s see what the main event has in store for us. Rendez-vous on Sunday, at 14:00 LT (UTC+2).