Few smiles at Sachsenring
Sunday afternoon of the German Grand Prix saw two different stories within the Tech3 team, from the more positive one of Enea Bastianini to the more tension-filled one that arose in Maverick Viñales’ box which could lead to a potential departure of the Spanish rider from the French team.
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The recovery in the second half of the race
Regarding Bastianini, #23 finished in 9th place after a first half of the race that saw the former Ducati rider struggling, only to then find the right feeling with the KTM that brought him into the top ten: “Here you can overtake, but it is very difficult, especially at the start of the race – he explained – the bike was vibrating a lot when I was in the slipstream of other riders in the first ten laps, and we had a lot of understeer. After that, I found a good feeling and lap after lap the bike got better. I managed to do the last ten laps with a good pace. The tire life was not that bad. Now I know that instead of staying behind a rider and studying him, I have to overtake immediately. If you wait, it’s already too late! I am not happy with the weekend overall. It was very complicated after a positive race at Assen, but we gave our best and saved a top ten with this ninth place.”
Suffering on and off the track
Very difficult, instead, was the race of Viñales. Last year, on this very track, the Spaniard suffered a dislocation of the left shoulder and a rupture of the supraspinatus tendon. In the last GP, with the progressive decrease of strength in the left shoulder, in a race spent in the last positions, ‘Top Gun’ decided to retire voluntarily four laps from the end, explaining the suffering endured during the race: “Obviously, this weekend I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike, but physically I couldn’t give more. Today under braking I had to go completely straight because I couldn’t lean on the bike. It’s hard to accept because I gave my best. I don’t understand how to ride the bike, plus I’m racing with a handicap, so it’s not the ideal combination. I really want to recover during the summer and have some good races, not just ride around the track. That is the goal for the next weeks.”
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