Last placed Marini endures tough Dutch GP, Bastianini ‘more comfortable’

Esponsorama Ducati riders Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini are looking forward to the summer break after tough Dutch MotoGP. 

Bastianini finished the race 15th to claim a solitary point, while Marini was last behind Petronas Yamaha stand-in Garrett Gerloff.

Bastianini’s point scoring finish was without threat as Lorenzo Savadori was 5 seconds back, however, the 2020 Moto2 world champion struggled to ‘get to the end’. 

The Italian added: "It was a good race, but I spent a lot of energy, and it was hard to get to the end. In the early stages I lost some time, but when I relaxed and let go, I felt more comfortable. 

"We didn't have a bad race, we probably need to improve a bit to find the limit of this bike. 

"Now we have a few weeks to rest and to train because MotoGP is very tiring, both physically and mentally."

It’s no surprise given how the weekend shaped out that Bastianini and Marini had a slightly tougher race than in recent rounds, as aside from Johann Zarco's fourth place, Ducati struggled as a whole.

But Marini put it down to making the wrong tyre choice: "Today I struggled a lot. After free practice I chose the medium tyre for the race. I felt confident, but with less grip it was not the best option.

"Like the other Ducatis, I had a lot of movement on the bike under acceleration that I had to manage. A shame and something to work on for the next races. 

"In FP4 I didn't feel comfortable on the hard, but with the medium I was able to ride as I wanted. 

"Today with the wind it was more difficult. It's time to enjoy a few days of relaxation and we'll get back to work in Austria. I'm looking forward to it."