Enea Bastianini gets first KTM MotoGP podium: ‘Guenther Steiner a lucky bastard’

Tech3 MotoGP team boss Herve Poncharal has branded new owner Guenther Steiner “a lucky bastard” after Enea Bastianini finished third at the Catalan Grand Prix.

On Friday at Barcelona, Tech3 announced that a consortium led by ex-Haas Formula 1 team boss Steiner would take over ownership of the team from next year.

Steiner hung around for the rest of the Catalan Grand Prix weekend and witnessed a first KTM podium for his rider Enea Bastianini on Sunday.

Coming from ninth on the grid, Bastianini quickly worked his way up to the lead group and put a hard move on Pedro Acosta at Turn 1 on lap 11 of 24 to move into third.

He tried to go with the leading Ducatis of eventual winner Alex Marquez and Marc Marquez, but was ultimately 5.562s behind at the chequered flag.

Nevertheless, third marked his first podium in a grand prix as a KTM rider and the second of the season alongside his sprint rostrum at Brno.

Speaking after the race, Poncharal says Tech3 can now “count on” the Italian to deliver strong results on the KTM for the rest of the season.

“The cherry on top,” he said in parc ferme immediately after the grand prix.

“And I think Guenther is a lucky bastard! He’s just come in, got a podium.

“No, honestly, it was a great weekend with all the announcement and everything.

“Enea was on fire. He was really cross with what happened in Hungary and he wanted revenge.

“And I think today he showed he has mastered the RC16 quite well now. And now we get to count on him for the rest of the season. Very happy. Red Bull gave us wings today.”

Bastianini had strong pace last time out in Hungary, but a brace of crashes meant that went unfulfilled.

Pedro Acosta finished fifth to complete a double top five for KTM in the Catalan Grand Prix, as his soft tyre gamble ultimately didn’t pay dividends.

Brad Binder crashed out, while an injured Maverick Vinales fought through from the back of the grid to score points in 13th.

With Aprilia suffering a tough Catalan weekend, KTM is now just two points behind in the battle for second on the constructors’ championship.