“I cannot ride like this” - KTM rider’s “strange” Silverstone MotoGP issue
Enea Bastianini remains unhappy with the performance of his KTM MotoGP bike
Tech3 KTM MotoGP rider Enea Bastianini says an unstable front-end on his bike is “too strange” and he “cannot ride like this” following a crash at the British Grand Prix.
The Italian, who won at Silverstone in 2024 when he was a factory Ducati rider, endured a tough weekend at Silverstone.
He qualified as the slowest of the full-time KTM riders in 19th and could only complete four laps in the grand prix before crashing out trying to overtake Gresini stand-in Iker Lecuona at the Vale.
Enea Bastianini acknowledged that he was too impatient to get the overtake done.
“Well, to try to overtake Lecuona in the change of direction, I lost the front on the change of direction,” he said.
“But after I crashed too early because we did just five laps, and nothing [more].
“I tried to overtake the other riders earlier, try to do a good race.
But at the end I stayed too aggressive at the start of the race, and to be honest it was better to wait, like what I did yesterday [in the sprint].”
Bastianini has battled continual stability issues on his KTM all season, and seemingly found no fix at Silverstone.
The Italian says the track was more “slippery” compared to how it was in the warm-up session, but this was nothing compared to the front-end issue that persisted.
“Yeah, I think the track was a bit slippery, also on the left side,” he said, noting the amount of crashes that took place in the race.
“Compared to the warm-up it was completely different and, well, it was like it was difficult to put the temperature with the tyre.
“But after several laps it was quite ok.
“The main problem for me remains, and the movement on the front was like yesterday or probably worse.
“And then we need to speak with the KTM guys because it's too strange; I cannot ride like this.”
Bastianini’s MotoGP future is yet to be confirmed, but he is set to join the Trackhouse Aprilia squad in 2027.
The team posted a mock job advertisement in the Silverstone media centre during the British Grand Prix weekend, teasing that an announcement will be soon.
Trackhouse won the British Grand Prix with Raul Fernandez, as all four of Aprilia’s riders have now scored grand prix victories in 2026.
