Ducati Dominates Mandalika: Bastianini Leads, Bagnaia Fourth

Ducati dominates the opening day at Mandalika Circuit, with Bastianini setting a new lap record and Bagnaia finishing fourth.

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The Ducati Lenovo Team made a strong start to the fifteenth MotoGP round at Mandalika Circuit. Enea Bastianini led the timesheets, setting a new lap record of 1:29.630. His teammate Francesco Bagnaia finished a close fourth, just 0.082 seconds behind him.

Five Ducati bikes dominated the top five positions. Jorge Martín of Pramac Racing Team secured second place. Franco Morbidelli, Martín’s teammate, followed in third. Marco Bezzecchi from VR46 Racing Team claimed fifth, underlining Ducati’s stronghold on the circuit.

Bastianini had an impressive day, finishing eighth in Free Practice 1. He then showed a stronger pace in the afternoon session. Consistently quick, he excelled in single-lap performance with the soft rear tyre. He moved into first with minutes left. He was on track for another fast lap but got slowed by another rider.

“It was a positive day,” Bastianini said. “The track improved a lot. I’m happy with the bike’s performance, especially during the time attack. Everyone is close in lap times so that qualifying will be tough.”

Bagnaia faced a more challenging day. The reigning world champion struggled with the medium rear tyre, finishing fourteenth in the morning. A strong final lap, using the soft tyre, helped him jump to fourth in the afternoon. He mentioned the big difference between medium and soft tyres.

“I had a similar situation to last year,” Bagnaia explained. “The soft tyre allowed us to bounce back. We still need to understand why the medium wasn’t working as expected.”

Despite the challenges, Bagnaia is optimistic. “There’s work to do, but I’m confident for qualifying and the sprint race.”

With lap times so close, Saturday’s qualifying will be intense. Free Practice 2 starts at 10:10 local time. The 13-lap sprint race is scheduled for 15:00. Ducati looks strong heading into another exciting day at Mandalika Circuit.