Enea Bastianini has defended the controversial overtake over Jorge Martin that secured him victory in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, saying he didn’t go over the limit.
Factory Ducati rider Bastianini had been piling a lot of pressure on long-time leader Martin over the closing stages of the Misano race and finally launched an attack on him into Turn 4 on the final lap.
Going into the tight right-hander, Bastianini sent his Ducati up the inside of the championship leader, causing the two riders to make contact and Martin to run off the track.
🚨 ONE LAP TO GO! 🚨@BESTIA23 FORCES @88JORGEMARTIN TO GIVE! 🤯#EmiliaRomagnaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/l7zz01URvj
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 22, 2024
The Pramac rider was visibly frustrated at his rival's overtaking manoeuvre, which he felt was unfair, while Gresini’s Marc Marquez also reckoned the Italian should have been penalised for going beyond the white line at the exit of the corner.
However, Bastianini doesn’t see anything wrong with the pass that was ultimately not investigated by the stewards, saying he had to go for the move when a race win was on the cards.
“Jorge was certainly not happy, but he closed the gap a lot when I overtook him. It was a bit on the limit, but it was a good overtake,” he said.
“When you have the chance to win the race, you have to do it. Yes, it has been a bit on the limit, but it was the only choice.
“I saw the only chance to attack him in the last lap in Turn 4, and he tried to close the line. I was a bit on the limit with the front, then closed the corner and I won the race.”
Martin had overtaken polesitter and Bastianini’s team-mate Francesco Bagnaia for the lead on lap 4 of 27, before building a small buffer on him.
Bastianini then dispatched Bagnaia to move up to second and started hunting down Martin, who made no major errors at the front save for a small moment on lap 27.
Bastianini said his Pramac rival was so strong in the second half of the lap that he was left with no choice but to make a block pass under braking for Turn 4.
“Jorge was incredible from the first lap, he pushed a lot. In the half part of the race he pulled some distance from me, but after two, three laps I again closed the gap," he said.
“[It was] probably the only opportunity for me because in sector 3 from the exit of turn 10, he was the strongest.
“I don't know why but at the end of the long straight [between turns 6 and 8] I was always with 0.2s, 0.3s [deficit]. It was the only opportunity to try to win the race.”
