Enea Bastianini was on the podium⭕ in the Solidarity Barcelona MotoGP Sprint for the seventh Saturday race in s꧋uccession, taking second place from Jorge Martin on the final lap.

Bastianini pas𒐪sed Martin on the downhill entry to turn five because he felt stronger than the Pramac Ducati rider in that part of the track. It was a move Bastianini said he’d been planning.

“I have planned a bit the overt🔯ake to Jorge [Martin], because in that point I was more confident to go directly on the line and, well, I was much ꦚfaster,” Bastianini said.

“It’s not simple, because on the left side the temperature of the tyre i𝓀s a bit cold, but for the rest, well, I overtake him.”

Turn five is a notorious corner at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya because it is the second left-hander of the lap, and the first one where the riders brake whi♕le entering, because turn two comes immediately after turn one at the end of the front straight.

It means that the temperature of the left-hand-side of the tyres is cold when arriving at turn five, and the corner 🍌being downhill is another factor that can negatively affect the grip in that corner.

All of that means that passing in turn five can be a risk, in theory, but Bastianini said he was “Safe, because I was very straight during the overtake. If there was a risk, probably it was possible for me to release the brake and go🍸 long.”

Repsol Honda’s Luca Marini agreed with Bastianini’s perspectiveꦫ, but only to a point.

♔Asked if if is risky to pass at turn five, Marini simply said “No,” but his justification for this was the asymmetric hard-compound front tyre that Michelin has brought to Barcelona this weekend, because it is softer on the left-🐻hand-side than the medium-compound front tyre:

“If it is cold and you hav♊e the full hard option [front tyre], yes, but now we have the double compound — on the left side is softer than the medium [compound front tyre] — so it’s much better than the past now, so to try an overtake ther🧸e is okay, no problem.”

Bastianini joine🔯d Martin in running the medium-compound front tyre in the Sprint, but even still he was able to make the pass cleanly and without incident.

Leading at the start "wasn't in my mind"

Bastianini’s start was the key to his race. From eighth on the grid he led at turn two, although his teammat༺e Francesco Bagnaia took the lead at turn three.

“It wasn’t in my mind, to be hon🍨est, to be first in the first corner,” Bastianini admitted, adding that he simply didn’t have the pace to go with Bagnaia.

“Pecco [Francꦿesco Bagnaia] was with a bit better pace during the first two♌ or three laps.

“Afterwards I bring my pace and I fight with Jorge. Our pa💝ce was really similar and we fought a lot for🐓 this second place.”

Aside from Bastianini’s turn five pass, he and Martin exchanged positions on multiple occasions at turn𒁃 one, including on one occasion where Bastianini was pushed marginally off-🌠track by martin on the outside of the first corner.

“ Sometimes it was a bit on the limit, because one time we were out of the line, I was on the red,” Bastiaꦫnini said.

“🅷But💃 when you fight for something important you have to give 100 per cent in every lap, in every corner.

“Jorge did it for all the race, me also beca𒈔use I fight also for something g💜ood.

“But for the rest, it was necessary for me to do a good race in Barcelona because every time it’s not simple this track for me, and it’s good to do a s♎tep today.”

Bastianini, in particular, was strong at the end. It’s historically been a trait of the Italian, but a strong point that had vanished somewhat in th✅e recent flyaway races.

He said that he had made a change to the bike that he felt had heꦍlped, but that it’s not clear if it will help in Sundﷺay’s full-distance race.

“We have to check better tomorrow, and tomorrow let’s see if also the change on the bike works well for the end of the race,” 🔯Bastianini said.

“But today, yes, the last two or tཧhree laps the bike worked well, and also the grip was a bit more on the edge [of the t💦yre].”

About Sunday, Bastianini is unsure of his tyre choice, apart from that the sof🍒t-compound rear is not a viable✨ option.

“I don’t know because today I was with the medium [compound front tyre], but probably it can drop more thꦍan the hard [compound front tyre],” he said.

“But, for the rest, in the rear, also the 🅠soft [compound tyre] will be not the race choice because at the end, in the last two or three laps, it has dropped a lot.”