KTM struggler seeking old trait from Ducati heyday despite season-best result
Enea Bastianini says he can’t yet be strong at the end of MotoGP races like he was in the past with the KTM.
Despite taking a season-best result of fifth place in the Austrian MotoGP, Enea Bastianini is still searching for improvements late in the race.
The closing laps of races were always a strong point of Bastianini’s in previous years when he was at Ducati, even back to his rookie year, 2021, at Misano where he was able to be on the podium from 17th on the grid thanks to his late race speed.
The 2025 Austrian MotoGP was another comeback race for Bastianini, finishing fifth after being ninth at the end of lap three, but the Italian indicated frustration with his performance in the closing laps despite taking his best Sunday result as a KTM rider so far.
“I’m happy about the result, it’s my best result [of] the year,” Enea Bastianini told MotoGP.com after the Austria race.
“I think, from the start, my sensation was good.
“During that race I committed a mistake after two laps because I was in the slipstream of Alex [Marquez] and I didn’t close the corner, turn one.
“After, I tried to come back and I did a great comeback.
“But the last five or six laps I don’t have the same potential as some years ago at the moment; we can’t do anything more [than] the others.
“We need to find some solution for the future, but I’m happy.”
Bastianini was Red Bull KTM Tech3’s only representative on-track in the race after Maverick Vinales withdrew from the weekend after qualifying due to a lack of fitness in the left shoulder he dislocated in Germany.
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Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
