The desired landing of MotoGP in Europe

Finally the Motorcycle World Championship arrives in Europe. Finally, if we stick to what the drivers said after the first four grand prix, held in Qatar, Indonesia, Argentina and the United States. Somewhat strange appointments in which the results have also been little expected. And it is that the protagonists of MotoGP await Europe as if it were a more realistic thermometer of their respective realities. Better known and worked circuits, in which there is much more activity on the track, which improves conditions. And that they hope they will offer a clearer picture of what this 2022 can be like, which, for the moment, offers an unexpected leader, although analyzing his 2021 closely, perhaps not so surprisingly.

“I did not expect. My expectations were to be in the front but not to fight for the first”, recognized this Thursday from Portugal Enea Bastianini, winner of the inaugural race in Qatar and the last one held in Austin. «For me it is not a big surprise because last year he lacked consistency, something normal for a rookie. But you just have to see how he drove in 2021 in Misano…”, analyzed the world champion, Fabio Quartararo, who has survived this start of the course (he is fifth overall, 17 points behind the leader) and who is another of the that awaits the arrival of the Old Continent like rain in May. “Enea had a reputation as a guy who took great care of his tires and always finished quickly. Before the race in Austin he already believed that he was going to win, because you could see the confidence he had in himself and in his bike, he could see it from the outside. I am surprised, but half surprised, “added the French.

And it is that the Italian had left clues in his first course in the premier class about how he is able to manage on Sundays, which has given him his two MotoGP victories: without going crazy with the passing of the laps, Bastianini is understanding how there are his tires, knowing how to take care of them to the point of reserving something more than the rest, which allows him to make a final attack that has placed him in the current situation.

A performance that Europe will also measure. In all the 2021 races that he finished he was able to improve his starting position, after the official tests did not reveal himself as his strong point. In his debut he passed the finish line nineteenth after the first lap, and in the end he signed a tenth place. In the third grand prix, precisely in Portugal, he crossed the finish line ninth after being eighteenth on the opening lap. In Aragón he scored a sixth place starting from ninth and being the fastest of all the drivers in the last three laps. Other examples were Austin, from sixteenth to sixth, or Valencia, from eighteenth to eighth. Although above all were the two races held in Misano, as Quartararo explained. In the first he achieved his first podium, third, from position twelve on the grid, and cutting almost three seconds from the first between laps 13 and 23, at which time he had already secured his result and in which he had no chance of improve it. And in the second he repeated that third, starting on 16. A career that went a bit unnoticed, but now shines in the mirror of the start of the year.

exam for applicants

Europe will measure the leader, and also contenders such as Álex Rins, second overall, or Joan Mir, the 2020 champion, and fourth in the standings. “I think I haven’t spoken in this championship yet. I do not notice that he has spoken; I have simply had good, constant races, but much more can be given. We’ve had four races, I’ve been able to get good results, not make mistakes and I think that now better circuits will come for me,” Mir pointed out.

And not only the first of the general will be in focus this weekend. “It was a very good return last year here after such a long period due to injury,” explained Marc Márquez, who arrives after his great performance in Austin and who returned to activity after his long break due to the arm injury precisely in Portimao, in an emotional weekend. «We are really looking forward to it, although we have only competed here once and we have to see if we are strong with the new bike to see if we can confirm the evolution. It’s a weekend to get a better understanding of all things and we’ll see what I can do based on how it goes,” he added.