The official MotoGP test at Aragon left Enea Bastianini with a bitter taste. While the Tech3 rider continued his work adapting to the KTM RC16 with diligence, the day ended with a relentless observation: the bike refused to cooperate in time-chasing configuration. A frustrating paradox for a rider whose nickname—La Bestia—is precisely synonymous with pure attack.
« We tried to numerous aerodynamic optionsIn the morning I worked a lot on this and I'm happy about it, because it helped us with the wheelie, the acceleration and a little bit on corner entry. ", entrusts bastianiniThe aerodynamic package therefore seems to be improving, particularly in taming the RC16's chronic nervousness when exiting corners. But things get worse as soon as you put on the soft tire.
« Nothing worked with the soft tire " he says bluntly. " With the worn tire I can attack, but not with the new one. » A statement as astonishing as it is revealing: where the majority of the field finds grip and time with fresh rubber, bastianini, he loses his bearings. The additional grip upsets the balance of the motorcycle, which becomes, in his words, unusable.
The afternoon was spent testing settings, but none of them were able to lift the curse of the new tire. The contrast is all the more cruel given that his teammate Maverick Vinales shone, setting the best time of the day. Maverick was very fast and I think we can be competitive like him "Says bastianini, lucid but frustrated.
Enea Bastianini is trapped by the soft tire
This blockage in qualifying is not new. Since his arrival at KTM in 2025, bastianini struggles to extract a fast lap, despite an often decent race pace. But in modern MotoGP, the ability to qualify on the front row is almost a condition of survival.
The evil seems deep. The team Tech3 now has the difficult task of untangling this technical and psychological knot: why does the RC16 refuse to respond to its rider's requests when the rubber offers the most grip? And above all, how can we make this bike usable when it matters most — in qualifying?
In Aragon, bastianini didn't find the answers. But he confirmed a persistent problem, which could be costly if the trend continues into the next rounds. The talent is there, the pace too. All that's missing is this round, this round, that KTM still refuses to give it to him.
MotoGP, Aragon Test: chronos
