Under the hot Texan conditions, Enea Bastianini lined up 12th on the grid, determined to build on the positives from Saturday’s Sprint, where he claimed P3, and convert them into a strong Sunday result.

A solid launch allowed ‘La Bestia’ to gain positions in the opening laps, and the Italian soon found his way into 10th. Showing patience and control, Bastianini kept the riders ahead close while managing his tyres around the demanding COTA layout.

The race continued to unfold in Bastianini’s favour as a crash for Joan Mir promoted him to P8. Maintaining his strong pace, the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider continued his attack and soon advanced into 7th after passing Álex Márquez.

In the closing stages, the #23 rider entered a nail-biting three-way battle for P5. Continuing to push until the chequered flag, Bastianini ultimately crossed the line in 6th, just behind Marc Márquez after a determined late-race charge.

The result marks a significant step forward for Bastianini and his second best weekend with the Tech3 team to date, highlighting improved race pace and growing confidence with the KTM RC16.

“I am very happy with this result because it was not an easy race. At the start, I lost the rear in Turn 3 and then, after some contact, the airbag deployed, which made things difficult for a while. After that, I tried to find my pace lap by lap and close the gap to the riders in front. At the end, I caught Marc, and it was a hard fight because he was pushing a lot in the final laps. I tried to get closer out of Turn 11 to have a chance into Turn 12, but we were missing a bit of acceleration. Still, we were competitive under braking and that is a positive. We can be satisfied with this weekend. I made a mistake in Qualifying, which made the race more difficult, but it is good to be back fighting close to the front again. Now we must keep working and continue like this in Europe.”

Fonte: MotoGP Tech3 Racing

Hard fought top 5 at the Red Bull Ring

After his solid 7th place in the sprint race on Saturday, Enea Bastianini was hungry for more on Sunday. A solid warm up with the 4th time confirmed the good feeling of the number 23 heading to the main race, scheduled at 14:00. The sun was out and it was hot on the grid, but quickly some clouds covered the Red Bull Ring, bringing some uncertainty with regards to potential risks of rain. In the end, no rain, it was a fully dry weekend. At the race start, Enea’s start was not ideal, and he found himself a bit stuck between Fermin Aldeguer and Brad Binder arriving at T1, he dropped two positions to 7th in one corner, and he was in 6th entering lap 2 after passing past Raul Fernandez. A battle for 4th at the front between Alex Marquez and Pedro Acosta earned the ‘Beast’ some time to sit close right behind them, until he got the opportunity to make a nice move on Acosta in sector 2 to P5. A small mistake at the brakes entering lap 1 sadly saw him go a bit wide, and three riders could go through. That was P8, with Raul Fernandez again to chase. Fermin Aldeguer took the opportunity to go through too as he took advantage of a small loss of rhythm from Bestia, and that was P9 at the end of lap 3. Alex Marquez’ long lap penalty gave Enea back P8, with Fermin Aldeguer to chase for. The young Gresini rookie was showing solid pace and making bold moves, but Bastianini kept the pace alongside him. At the front, Brad Binder went wide while overtaken by Fernandez, and Enea sneaked into 7th. The gap to Raul Fernandez tightened quickly with Bastianini not wanting to lose time chasing the number 25, bearing in mind that the group behind was coming back quickly led by Alex Marquez. Halfway through the race, just 0.18 seconds separated Bastia from Fernandez, and the number 23 wasn’t shy, and made a nice and sharp move on the inside of the Trackhouse rider to move to 6th. Ahead, Aldeguer was 3 seconds away, when Francesco Bagnaia ahead made a small mistake and went wide at T1. Enea was now just 1.9 seconds behind his ex-teammate with faster lap times. Soon, Bestia had completely closed on Bagnaia, until he got the opportunity to make a nice overtake at T4 on the Ducati Factory rider. P5 with six laps to go, with Pedro Acosta now 1.6 seconds ahead. Bastianini kept that position until the checkered flag, to secure his first top 5-finish of 2025 on a Sunday! Well done Enea & team!

I am happy about the result, my best this year! From the start of the race, the sensations on the bike were positive. I made a small mistake after two laps because I was in the slipstream of Alex (Marquez), and I did not close the corner. I made a great comeback after, but in the last 5-6 laps, I did not have the same potential that I used to have. We did not have more, and I hope that we will find some solutions for the future. We have confirmed this weekend the results from Brno, and it feels good to be again in the top 5, it’s good for our morale after this first half of the season. I am feeling good, I am working a lot on my style and I really like the new aero provided by the factory, so let’s continue working like this!

Fonte: Tech3 Racing

Forced to start from 20th today following a 3 position grid penalty, Enea Bastianini took a decent start as he jumped from 20th to 16th to lead teammate Brad Binder who had dropped in the opening lap. He found a way next past Lorenzo Salvadori in the third sector of lap 2 to make a first entry in the point-scoring positions, with Raul Fernandez next ahead. Enea’s solid early pace gave him a boost to continue his ascension, and he could overtake Fernandez in lap 4. P14 for the number 23, with 6 positions already gained in just 4 laps. Some crashes ahead saw the Italian jump to 9th behind Johann Zarco on lap 6, and the next lap he could overtake the Frenchman to P8, but Fernandez was in for the fight, and overtook Bastianini shortly after. The Italian appeared to feel better than the past day on his RC16, and he was providing us with consistent lap times which allowed him to keep contact with Fernandez, as the battle for 8th awaited. A sudden small drop saw Enea lose a bit of ground, which gave Binder the opportunity to overtake our Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider, but Enea was quick to refocus and he claimed back his 9th place. However, Raul Fernandez was more than 3 seconds away, 8 laps to the checkered flag. Enea could not catch up on the 25, and settled for 9th, his first top 10 result since Jerez, so this one will be good for morale. Let’s take it all in, and continue working in that way! Next up for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad is Sachsenring! See you in two weeks for the Grand Prix of Germany, on July 11-12-13!

“It is one of our best results of the season, but it was also one of the best races in terms of feeling on the bike. I felt a bit more comfortable compared to yesterday, but the issues remain the same. When I am taking a slipstream, it is much easier for me to make the change of directions, but when I am alone, I can not push, the bike feels heavier, so it is a problem because we are losing time. I was lapping like the other KTM riders at the start when I was with other riders, but when I was alone in the middle of the race, I lost time unfortunately. I hope that we really figure out why this happens so we can improve!”

Firstly, the Michelin® Grand Prix of France set another milestone with a new all-time attendance record of 311 797 MotoGP™ fans making it through the doors of the Bugatti track this weekend. Then, the rain messed things up literally minutes before lights were out, as we saw many riders head back to the pit box to swipe bikes after the white flag was waved in the warm up lap. Red flag was then shown when the pit lane became too messy, with a quick start procedure planned. Then, the rain stopped, and started again, as we saw many flag-to-flags, crashes and more. The ice on the cake was when local hero Johann Zarco saw the checkered flag in 1st, becoming the first French rider to win on home soil in MotoGP™ since 1954. Through the chaos, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Enea Bastianini ended that crazy race in 13th, after crashing out twice and having to complete four long lap penalties.

Gara pazzesca! Oggi sono successe molte cose, con il meteo in continuo cambiamento: un minuto pioveva e poi smetteva. Abbiamo iniziato il giro di riscaldamento con gomme slick, poi ha piovuto, quindi abbiamo cambiato moto, e dopo è stato un disastro, e abbiamo cambiato di nuovo. La situazione è stata difficile da gestire per tutti, siamo caduti due volte, purtroppo portando a terra Pecco (Francesco Bagnaia) alla partenza, per il quale dovrò scontare una penalità nel prossimo round. Ma alla fine, sono comunque riuscito a portare a casa qualche punto con il 13° posto. Abbiamo cercato di dare il nostro meglio oggi, il nostro ritmo era forte una volta finito il caos, anche se avremmo potuto avere una strategia migliore fin dall’inizio, ma è andata così! Concentriamoci sul fare un buon lavoro tutti insieme a Silverstone.

After a positive sprint race on Saturday with a 13th place, Enea Bastianini was back for the main event on Sunday at COTA, a track he has often been strong on. As light drops of rain started to spread uncertainty amongst all riders on the grid, Enea had opted for the slick tyres hoping that the rain would completely stop. Many riders started to run back to their pitboxes to change bikes, creating a bit of a chaos that was quickly stopped by the race direction as they waved the red flag, to re-schedule a new start a few minutes later for 19 laps instead of 20. When lights were out for good, Enea gained two positions after the opening lap to sit behind Marco Bezzecchi. He remained in that position for a while until making a move on Ai Ogura, and by lap 9 he was in 13th, and he found himself 0.186 seconds from Fabio Quartararo. He quickly found his way through the Frenchman, to progress to 12th the following lap. Joan Mir’s crash ahead earned him one more position at the doors of the top 10, while the Italian’s pace kept getting stronger, in the low 2’03. After 13 laps, he was in 10th to battle it out for 9th against Luca Marini. Bestia continued to put pressure on his fellow countryman, to eventually get the better of him in sector 3 of lap 15. Just ahead, an ongoing battle between Marco Bezzecchi and Johann Zarco allowed Bastianini to close the gap on these two, with now just a 0.3 second-gap from Zarco with just 3 laps to go. On his 16th lap, Enea clocked in an excellent 2’02.953, clearly in the pace of the front, one that gave him the confidence to fight for 8th against Zarco. Eventually he attacked on the inside the number 5, to move up to 8th, while the Frenchman crashed under pressure. Shortly after, Firmin Aldeguer crashed too, and Enea was in 7th with 3 laps to go, a position he kept until the checkered flag. Awesome race from Bastianini, from 17th to 7th, who goes home with his best result of the season.

I am happy about my race, it has been the best one since the start of the season. I was riding very well from the middle until the end of the race, and I felt good for probably the first time on this bike. Our pace was good, and we improved as the laps went by, so I am happy. I think that we improved our bike from yesterday, which is positive for us, we are moving forward. We have found a good direction that we will need to check in the next round.

Source: motogp.tech3racing.fr