Grid penalty for KTM rider after “disturbing another rider” in Dutch MotoGP qualifying

Enea Bastianini has been issued a three-place grid penalty for the Dutch MotoGP.

The penalty was awarded because Enea Bastianini has been been judged to have disrupted Alex Rins in qualifying while riding slowly.

Bastianini was “observed to be riding slow online disturbing another rider, #42, at turns 9-10,” the sanction notification from the MotoGP Stewards reads.

The penalty, determined to be three places as a result of this being Bastianini’s first offence of the 2025 MotoGP season, will be applied only for the Sunday race at Assen, meaning Bastianini will start from his original grid position in Saturday’s Sprint.

Both Bastianini and Rins took part in Q1 on Saturday morning and neither advanced to Q2. Bastianini qualified 17th, and Rins 19th. The Tech3 KTM rider’s penalty means he will start 20th for Sunday’s Dutch TT.

At the end of Bastianini’s first run, he was riding slowly back to the pits. Between turns nine and 10, he rode along the kerb on the left-hand side of the track.

Approaching turn 10, Bastianini drifted back towards the middle of the track. At this moment, Rins was approaching behind Bastianini, and had to back out of his lap as the Italian floated towards the centre of the track as they both tipped in to turn 10.

Rins was still pushing at the time. He’d had a lap cancelled as a result of yellow flags for a crash for Ai Ogura and sat 11th-fastest.

Both riders were able to get back out for second runs, but were unable to advance to Q2.

While Rins managed only 19th in qualifying, his Monster Energy Yamaha teammate, Fabio Quartararo, took his fourth pole of the season in Q2, in which the Frenchman was the only Yamaha representative.