‘Best in the world’

Updated 04/08/2024 at 16:59 GMT

TNT pundit team Neil Hodgson and Sylvain Guintoli argued that Enea Bastianini’s British Grand Prix victory on Sunday afternoon was above all a win for the Italian’s signature tyre management skills. After sitting behind the leaders for much of the race, Bastianini made his move in the 11th lap, taking full advantage of his relatively inexhausted tyres to pass Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia.NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 03: Enea Bastianini of Italy and Ducati Lenovo Team celebrates the victory on the podium on track during the MotoGP Of Great Britain – Sprint at Silverstone Circuit on August 03, 2024 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Mirco

Image credit: Eurosport

Enea Bastianini’s British Grand Prix victory on Sunday afternoon at Silverstone was a triumph of strategy, and further proof of why the Italian is “the best in the world” at tyre management, according to TNT pundit Neil Hodgson.

Hodgson was full of praise for the Italian following his stunning triumph.

“He’s got that special ability to save a tyre,” he told TNT Sports. “His riding style, it’s clear to see…he does it double the amount of the other riders.”

The former British superbike champion also explained that part of Bastianini’s genius is anticipating the need he will have later in the race.

He said: “When you’ve got grip, and you really don’t need it as much, he’s always picking the bike up. As soon as he gets to the edge of the corner, he picks the bike up, takes it off the edge of the tyre.

“Early on when you’ve got grip, you’re not aware of it as much so you can burn the most important part of your tyre which is the edge grip.

“Then you get to the three quarter point of the race, everyone’s edge grip is going and it’s like he’s another 10%, another 20% and he can give consistent lap times right until the end of the race.”

Hodgson summed it up: “He’s incredible at doing it, he’s the best in the world.”

Fellow TNT analyst Sylvain Guintoli agreed with Hodgson arguing that Bastianini’s key move during the 11th lap.

He said: “Yeah he just let the race come to him. At the start of the race he looks like he’s really struggling with a full fuel load but when that bike became a little bit lighter, that’s when he was really able to generate the lap time and make the difference there. He kind of made it look easy.”

“When Bastianini is at one with his bike and with the front end of his bike, he’s just unbeatable.”

The event at Silverstone was also unfolding under the shadow of last week’s incident at The Race of Champions at World Ducati Week where Marc Marquez nudged Nicolo Bulega into the gravel on the final lap.

Asked to explain the incident on Saturday, Hodgson said: “It was World Ducati Week, where all the Ducati riders are invited. It’s part of their contract. They turn up, it’s a fun weekend, they have the Race of Champions. It’s a recipe for disaster!”

“In third was Nicolo Bulega but Marc was closing on him. I thought: ‘Marc is going to attack on the last lap’ like you’d expect him to do in a race. At Misano with three corners to go, that’s the last overtaking opportunity.

“If you don’t pass before, it’s pretty much done. On the last two, you can’t overtake unless a rider makes a mistake. Bulega did make a mistake. He turned into the last corner, Marc did a very aggressive block pass. There was contact, and he knocked him flying. Marc finished third.”

The Moto GP season continues in 12 days when the riders head to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg for the Austrian GP.

Watch every Grand Prix, sprint and qualifying session of the MotoGP season live on TNT Sports and discovery+.