Tech3 star shows everyone why he’s still MotoGP’s tyre whisperer in Japan

After watching Pedro Acosta take all the plaudits for KTM’s first MotoGP win of 2026 in Austria, Tech3’s Enea Bastianini reminded everyone why he’s still MotoGP’s tyre king at Motegi. 

After the soft rear tyre was removed from the allocation due to fears of severe overheating, riders were left with two options for the grand prix; the medium rear, or the hard, which was considered a big unknown heading into Sunday.

That being said, every rider on the grid decided to use the hard rear, meaning longevity was unlikely to be an issue.

Then again, preserving rear grip was still going to be necessary over the 24-lap race, and come the checkered flag, no one was lapping as fast as Bastianini.

Over two seconds down on Marco Bezzecchi at one stage, Bastianini ended the final lap less than tenth behind the Aprilia rider.

Speaking after his first podium of the season, a relieved Bastianini said: “I was waiting for this moment for a long time to ride like that, and today it arrived. 

“This morning was a bit strange because we didn’t expect that from this tyre. 

“Before we tried the medium and after I tried the hard, and the hard worked very well from the first lap. 

“It was the right tyre choice for the race. The race was complicated at the start because I lost some time to overtake Pedro [Acosta], who at that moment wasn’t very fast. 

“I saw Marc and Jorge going, but from the middle of the race until the end I tried to push every lap a bit more. 

“At the end of the race I was faster but I didn’t overtake Marco [Bezzecchi] on the final lap.”

While it’s not a surprise to see Bastianini be this kind to his rear tyre, something he’s perfected over his career, the Italian has not been able to show this side of his riding as much since joining KTM.

That’s because the RC16 has been known to stress the rear tyre a lot at various race tracks, although Motegi was not the case in that regard, at least for Bastianini.

Bastianini added: “Usually we use the rear a lot in every track. In this track the tyre life was so good and I arrived at the end of the race with an incredible feeling, and had the chance to go on the podium. It was a surprise.”

While Motegi suggests a breakthrough in performance was made at Tech3, Bastianini is unsure whether this will carry forward to other venues.

The former factory Ducati rider added: “It’s too early to say, but in this track we were competitive and found the speed. 

“We can’t be sure, but we worked a lot after Spielberg after we saw that Pedro was much more competitive than us. 

“We studied from Friday to now and in the end I’m back at the front.”