Enea Bastianini bemoans KTM “limits” after French MotoGP

Tech3 MotoGP rider Enea Bastianini says his recovery to seventh in the French Grand Prix exposed “some limits” to the current KTM package.

The Italian harmed his chances of getting into Q2 when he crashed during the first stage of qualifying on Saturday at Le Mans, which left him 14th on the grid.

He then crashed again during the sprint, but was able to recover to seventh in the main race last Sunday, albeit around five seconds down on top KTM Pedro Acosta in fifth.

Enea Bastianini says the Le Mans weekend highlighted limitations with his KTM, particularly on soft rubber.

“Today we made it to the chequered flag, and yesterday I crashed two times,” he said on Sunday.

“But today I’ve tried to save the position.

“My expectation was a bit higher, compared to what I did.

“But I think at the moment we have some limits. We have to understand what they are.

“I think today with the soft on the rear it was difficult for us to push, because we had some movement.

“And from my side it was very difficult to manage.

“And also at the end of the race, I wasn’t really as fast as what I can do usually.

“It’s a good position for the guys of the team because it’s their home GP, and I’m happy.”

Team-mate Jonas Folger, who deputised for the injured Maverick Vinales, saw the chequered flag in his first start in three years, though was 73.229s off the lead.

“It was a tough race, but the goal was to complete the distance and keep learning,” the KTM test rider noted.

“I made good progress up to qualifying, but in the race I couldn’t match that pace and struggled with comfort and physical fatigue, especially in my left shoulder.

“Overall, the weekend was still better than expected.

“I came in with a focus on understanding the bike, but after yesterday’s crash, I lacked some confidence, and today it was full focus on getting the laps in and finishing.

“I want to say thank you to the Tech3 guys for being so patient and giving me the room to improve at such a high level.”