Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales have just completed their second official ride with Tech3, their new team for the 2025 season. In Malaysia, as in Thailand, it was not easy for the two riders to familiarize themselves with the KTM RC16 that they are discovering. The Italian even admits that he does not feel totally ready to tackle the upcoming season.
On this second day of action in Thailand, most of the drivers focused on Sprint and race simulations, to best prepare for the first round of the season, which will already take place in less than two weeks.
In the Tech3 riders' category, the main references are the performances of Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder, the KTM factory riders who already know the bike well. Enea Bastianini took to the track early this morning to do his preparation work. He thus focused in more detail on finding the right setting for the bike.
The times he set throughout the day show a clear improvement. The Italian even managed to set a mark below the 1:30 mark. After finishing the day in fifteenth position in the general classification, Bastianini was somewhat relieved to have found something that would make him progress, after having worked so hard.
Enea Bastianini at the Buriram Test © Tech3
"We worked a lot during these five days in Malaysia and Thailand, and I have to be honest, it was very complicated., he confided at the end of the day in comments relayed by his team. We struggled a bit to find the directions to take, we tried a lot of things, but I also understood that I had to adapt my style to the RC16. We are closely following the data of Pedro Acosta, who is clearly the best rider on KTM, and if we want to be close to him I have to change some things on my side, which is very difficult.
Although he finished the day with satisfactory times, this last day of pre-season allowed Enea Bastianini to make a much less encouraging observation: he is still far from the objective he set himself with KTM.
"Anyway, we finished the day with positive times, with improvements, but I don't feel ready to fight for the positions I want right now. We will need more work, more time, and we will have to take the laps one after the other" concludes Enea Bastianini.
MotoGP – Buriram Test – Day 2 Standings:
Ranking : MotoGP.com
Enea Bastianini at the Buriram Test © Tech3
