Enea Bastianini reveals final MotoGP target before leaving KTM

Enea Bastianini, KTM's top rider in the Qatar MotoGP, now has just two more chances to sign off his Tech3 career with a grand prix podium finish.

Bastianini's only Sunday podium in orange remains third place at last year's Catalunya round.

The future Trackhouse Aprilia rider was promoted to a Sprint podium by Pedro Acosta's tyre-pressure penalty at COTA this year, but then lost a Motegi Sprint podium due to a track-limits violation on the final lap.

“I got a podium without celebrating on the podium in Austin - and today was similar!” Bastianini said at the time.

Bastianini then missed a Sunday podium by just 0.078s in the Japanese Grand Prix and returns to Europe after back-to-back fifth places at Sepang and Lusail.

“It was a tough race. I was happy with my start; I kept a good line and was in a strong position for Turn 1,” Bastianini said of Qatar.

“After that I tried to stay close to Pedro and Marc and fight for the podium. I was trying to stay calm and save the tyre for the end. But in the middle of the race, Marc disappeared.

“The worst area for us was the left corners, where we had a lot of chatter. This was something we had the whole weekend, but it seemed to get worse in the Sprint yesterday and today.

"Two more chances"

“We did a good job. We were the first KTM. I’m trying to fight for the podium at the moment. I’ve been closer in this last part of the season.

“We have two more chances and I want to give my team a top three finish before the season is over.

“That’s the aim going to Portugal.”

Although Acosta's heroics have made most of the KTM headlines this season, Bastianini has been the top RC16 finisher in nine races.

The former Ducati MotoGP race winner currently holds tenth in the world championship.

Enea Bastianini's top KTM finishes this season:

USA Sprint: 3rd
Spanish GP: 8th
Czech Sprint: 7th
Czech GP: 10th
Dutch Sprint: 8th
Dutch GP: 6th
Japanese Sprint: 4th
Japanese GP: 4th
Qatar GP: 5th