They have been each born in 1997, one in Turin and the opposite in Rimini, they’ve gained a world championship every, in Moto2, and each at the moment are driving for Ducati. In addition they share the primary letters of their surname: Bagnaia and Bastianini, in strict alphabetical order, are the riders that the Italian followers have been ready for. At Le Mans, final Sunday, they got here up towards one another for the primary time in MotoGP, with Enea getting the higher after Pecco’s crash, now the hope is that revenge will come quickly, maybe already at Mugello.
The purpose of arrival is similar, the paths to succeed in it in some methods related and in different methods totally different. Bagnaia minimize his enamel in CEV within the group of Emilio Alzamora (Marc Marquez’s supervisor) earlier than being adopted by Valentino Rossi in his Academy. Bastianini, alternatively, in CIV, with Fausto Gresini and Fabrizio Cecchini as tutelary deities who took him to the World Championship. Within the cadet class they each achieved lower than they deserved. After an advanced begin, Pecco got here good with the Mahindra, the least aggressive bike of the lot, even managing to win a few races. Whereas Enea got here near the title in 2016, however he all the time missed the large goal.
In Moto2, alternatively, they adopted the identical path: expertise within the first yr, champions within the second. Then the decision from Ducati, which demonstrated that it believes in them. Bagnaia was handed over to Cristian Gabarrini (former crew chief of Stoner and Lorenzo, to call two), Enea to Alberto Giribuola (right-hand man of Dovizioso). For each, crimson is their favorite color and now they’re the 2 jewels of Borgo Panigale.
After two seasons of ups and downs, the person from Piedmont broke by way of on the finish of final yr, successful 4 of the final 6 GPs and getting one other win this season at Portimao. The rider from Romagna managed to get on the rostrum already on his debut (within the two Misano races) regardless of a classic Desmosedici and this yr he has achieved 3 victories within the first 7 races. It was logical that in the end they might have clashed on the observe, it occurred in France and there have been the primary little digs between them.
“I believe I made Pecco nervous and so he made a mistake, possibly he suffers me greater than different riders as a result of I am Italian” gloated the Beast of Rimini. “He can suppose what he desires, mine was an error of judgment”, was the response of the manufacturing unit Ducati rider. To speak about dualism and begin pulling the names of Rossi and Biaggi out of the drawer, we are going to nonetheless have to attend, additionally as a result of the 2 are nonetheless removed from the outcomes of their illustrious predecessors. Even temperamentally there’s little distinction, each Pecco and Enea are much less histrionic than Max and Vale. Extra reserved the rider from Piedmont, extra light-hearted however all the time quiet the man from Romagna, each are reworked once they get onto their motorbikes, the place they are often ruthless as befits those that purpose excessive in sport. Plus, they each don’t have any downside saying what they suppose and rarely search for excuses if one thing goes improper.
“Bagnaia mentioned he would love Miller as his teammate,” recalled Bastianini. “After all, now we have been collectively for 4 years and I like working with him, however Enea deserves a spot within the official group” defined Pecco. The potential for seeing them in crimson, sharing the identical field, in 2023 is concrete. The ‘Bestia’ has already determined to proceed with Ducati, within the coming weeks we are going to discover out with which colors. Two Italians within the first group wouldn’t be new, in latest occasions there have been Dovizioso and Iannone after which once more Andrea with Petrucci, so there aren’t any explicit impediments. Additionally as a result of Martin, the opposite candidate, is standing out extra for his crashes than for his outcomes firstly of the yr and nerve issues in his proper arm solely make issues worse. Miller, in the meantime, appears to have given up on that seat by now (“Bastianini is Italian, it might make sense”) and has been trying round for a while, with KTM in his sights.
It’s due to this fact troublesome for Dall’Igna and Ciabatti to say no to Enea. Playing on two divas already occurred within the days of Lorenzo and Dovizoso and it didn’t go badly (other than the top of the story), with the 2 pushing one another exhausting to repeatedly increase the bar.
The paths of Bagnaia and Bastianini appear destined to cross, maybe even to collide, giving rise to a dualism that guarantees to entertain all of the followers. In the meantime, the subsequent stage will likely be at Mugello and the spectators couldn’t need for a greater present.
