Bastianini entered the event buoyed by a string of promising performances yielding consecutive top eight finishes, and bidding to build upon that positive momentum. On the other side of the garage, stablemate Maverick Viñales rejoined the fray for the first time since withdrawing from the Grand Prix of the United States at the end of March, having since undergone successful corrective surgery on his shoulder.

The 4.66km, 14-turn Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has been a mainstay at the pinnacle of two-wheeled racing since 1992. One of the fastest tracks on the MotoGP calendar, its abrasive, low-grip nature and wide layout invariably generate exciting action.

The Tech3 duo began their preparations by completing a total of 35 laps during FP1, as they evaluated recent updates to the KTM RC16. At the scene of his 19th career podium in the premier class last year, Bastianini made a confident start to his weekend by posting the sixth-fastest effort in the 22-strong field.

Easing his way back into the groove on his return to competition, Viñales lowered his lap times throughout and wound up just half-a-second adrift of his team-mate around his local circuit.

Former Moto2 World Champion Bastianini subsequently headed into the hour-long Practice aiming for a top ten spot to progress automatically to Q2 in Qualifying on Saturday morning. Matching the circuit’s top speed record of 358.8km/h along the way, ‘La Bestia’ was a leading contender for the majority of the tightly contested session, featuring as high as second.

As the times tumbled in the final stages, however, he found himself demoted to 11th right at the close, missing out by a mere 0.080secs. Home hero Viñales ended up six-and-a-half tenths further back in 20th.

Tomorrow, half-an-hour of track time in FP2 at 10:10 CEST (UTC+2) will allow both riders to fine-tune their bikes ahead of the 15-minute Q1 shootout at 10:50 CEST, in which they will attempt to secure one of the final two Q2 berths. The 12-lap Sprint race will get underway at 15:00 (UTC+2).

Enea Bastianini: “I’m a bit disappointed and frustrated to miss out by just one position, like at Le Mans, especially after always being up towards the top in both sessions. On the other hand, I can be satisfied with the work we have done today. Usually, we’re fast at this track, as we also saw last year, and I can’t really explain why; when the grip is low, we tend to suffer a bit, but here, that’s not the case. The main thing we need is to be a bit faster on corner entry, because I’m having to reduce the speed a lot to turn right now, so we have a bit more work to do – but generally, we seem to be competitive.”

Maverick Viñales: “Today was all about not making any mistakes or getting too enthusiastic. In the end, I want to avoid going backwards. Normally in the fast sections I’m quick, but today I was one gear down. On a track with more grip, I would be much closer, because I would be able to push more to the limit. We see there are two or three places here where my condition doesn’t allow me to perform at my best, but I don’t think it will take too much to get better. My real target is to be 100 per cent for Brno (in a month’s time), so I need to forget a little bit about the results for now and get closer step-by-step.”