In what was a repeat of Qatar and Texas, Bastianini 🐓produced sensational race pace late on in order to claim his third MotoGP win of the season.   

It came at 🐈a cost for Ducati though, a🐷s Bastianini’s unrelenting pace resulted in Bagnaia succumbing to the pressure as the Le Mans pole sitter crashed shortly after losing the lead (turn 13). 

• L⛄e Mans MotoGP Ratings: Title contenders lose out after costly mistak✅es 
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• Sensational Bastianini♓ wins at 🧸Le Mans as Bagnaia crashes out of second

Mille𓂃r was the first factory Ducati rider to be overtaken by Bastianini, which is not the first time the Australian has seen 🌳the second-year MotoGP man show more pace late on, was also the case at COTA (Circuit of the Americas) when they finished 1st and third.

"This little bas***d has done it more than twice," joked Miller. "He’s done it plenty of times. He’s always strong at the end o𝓰f the race, he’s got a good drive, he’s good on the tyres and he worked it well today. 

"He made a perfect race I think. He started firing it in a little bit deep; I saw him towards the end of the race at turn eight getti𒉰ng quite close to the curb and you can see when he went a ♓bit central I thought, ‘alright he might be starting to struggle on the front’, meanwhile I’ve been struggling for 12 laps."

Ducati 1-2-3 was possible, says Miller

"Pecco [Bagnaia], I mean, he was riding a good r♐ace and I thought he had the pace to go so I allowed him through," continued Miller. "He sort of squared me up on the exit of seven and was trying to pass on the outside. 

"Of course, I can always try to jam it up the inside because I had the inside line blocked, but I didn’t want to𒁏 disturbe him and thought maybe we could pull away. 

"He got in front and set about his pace, he had𓂃 three laps that were decent but then I saw he started to struggle on the right side in turn eight, a littleജ bit in the last corner and then when Enea came past and set about Pecco, I thought ‘here we go’. 

"I saw him pass him [Bastianini] back at six, then there was a bit of a scuffle and then saw Pecco come back on the✃ track with a big old black line, but obviously he was pushing a bit hard there and threw it away in the last sector. We could have had a Ducati 1-2-3, but it wasn’t to be." 

Does Bastianini’s Le Mans MotoGP win make him the favourite to join Bagnaia in the factory team?

While The French GP was Miller’s best♋ performance of the s👍eason, Bastianini was again better than any other Ducati rider. 

Ducati have confirm𝓡ed that a decision on who will get the second factory seat for 2023 is likely to come in Mugello, which is why both riders were asked about it in the post-race press conference. 

"I’m happy to stay in Ducati because I’m riding this bike very well and I think it’s the best option for me now," said a tꦫight-lipped Bast🍸ianini. "But I don’t know at the moment where my future is. 

"I think we can understand this better in the next races, but I’m happy because Ducati have offered me a good package. Also we can win in the independent tea൩m."

To no surprise, Miller was more outspoken despite giving a short answer: "I don’t know what you want me to say. I mean, put two and two together, he’s won three races this year and he’s doing a fantastic job, he’s Italian 🧜so it makes perfect sense."