After a two-week break in August, the Tech3 team was back on track for Round 13 of the 2026 MotoGP™ World Championship at the MotorLand Aragón circuit in Spain. Conditions were tricky throughout the day. The 5.08km layout was dirty and dusty during FP1, while temperatures had risen to a hot 25 degrees for afternoon Practice.

Bastianini’s feeling in FP1 was far from ideal as he placed 21st. Thanks to the hard work of his crew, the Italian felt more comfortable in Practice, but still noted he could not slide the rear of his KTM RC16 as he wanted. 

After doing considerable work to get the Michelin soft rear tyre working on his first two runs, ‘La Bestia’ was able to knock close to 0.8s off his personal best in the final minutes of the day but could only secure P17 and a spot in Q1.

After getting reacquainted with the KTM RC16 in Silverstone following an extensive testing programme on the new 850cc bike, Espargaró felt more comfortable on his opening laps in Aragón.

The 35-year-old showed potential in FP1, when he finished 15th, but admitted to lacking performance in time attack mode in Practice. With some improvements in Sector 3, the #44 rider is confident of fighting with the other KTMs tomorrow. 

The action gets underway on Saturday with Bastianini and Espargaró heading out for FP2 at 10:10 CEST (UTC+2) ahead of Qualifying at 10:50 (UTC+2) and the 11-lap Sprint at 15:00 (UTC+2).

Enea Bastianini: “I must be honest: I was thinking today would be better. The first practice in Aragón is always tricky due to the dirty track. We did a step in the afternoon, but it wasn’t enough. I have understeer because the rear tyre is pushing the front, and if I try to slide the rear, it’s difficult because of the lack of grip. It’s particularly tough when I’m entering the corners. On a track like this, it’s very hard to ride like I want when the grip is low. We need to try something for tomorrow to help me slide the rear in entry because we’re far from the other factories, so we’ll work on the setting this evening. With a few improvements I’m sure we can be fighting around the top ten and much closer to the front.”

Pol Espargaró: “It’s coming! I feel much more competitive today than I did at Silverstone. This morning, I was even better than this afternoon. It’s only when everyone starts pushing on soft tyres that I’m missing speed. I wasn’t far away from Brad [Binder] and Enea’s time and was only one second off Pedro [Acosta]. I did a good lap but there were also a few mistakes - I need to improve Sector 3 a lot. If I adjust a few things there I should get two tenths. I’m not expecting to go through to Q2 tomorrow, but I want to be respectable and as close as possible to my team-mates. That would be great.”