Andrea Dovizioso believes World Championship leader Enea Bastianini’s success is also down to his working relationship with his former crew chief
Enea Bastianini caused a surprise with first place at the MotoGP season opener in Qatar and celebrated his first win in the premier class after two podium finishes as a rookie in 2021. Although things went less well in the rain at Mandalika with eleventh place, Bastianini still holds the world championship lead.
Andrea Dovizioso believes that his former crew chief Alberto Giribuola, who now coaches Bastianini, has played a big part in this success. “From my point of view he makes a big contribution,” he underlines Giribuola’s role.
“Last year was Bastianini’s first year and having the right person around him makes all the difference, especially when you can’t develop the bike,” Dovizioso knows. Bastianini rode a 2019 Ducati last year, and this season he is piloting last year’s model in the Gresini team.
Francesco Bagnaia and co. have shown that it is possible to win races with it. But it takes more than a fast bike and a good rider, Dovizioso stresses.
“I don’t know the details from Qatar, but I know how good Giribuola is and I think the team did a great job for sure, because you can’t win with just one person,” said the long-time Ducati rider, who now competes for Yamaha’s satellite team.
“Bastianini is in the right situation because he has one person close to him who knows everything about Ducati. And I know how things work at Ducati. Having a person who can focus on what you need to be fast on this bike and not waste time on other things makes all the difference.”
Dovizioso sees one such person in Giribuola. “He certainly played a big part in Bastianini being very competitive at the end of the season last year. Also his test was very good and in this first race he could win. “