Qualifying
Having come within 0.013s of a top ten place on Friday, hopes were high that Bastianini could progress through Q1 on Saturday morning. After placing 16th in FP2, the Italian found he was unable to replicate his Practice speed in Q1, as he placed seventh (17th overall) with changes to his setup not having the desired effect. 

Viñales was keen to try a different riding position on Saturday morning that would allow him to better control his KTM RC16. However, the Spaniard placed 21st in FP2 before finishing Q1 in tenth (20th overall) as he struggled with a lack of front-end feel.

Sprint
Conditions ahead of the 15-lap Sprint race were much like Friday. Partly cloudy skies and moderate temperatures of 25 degrees greeted the Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders.

Starting 16th after Marco Bezzecchi’s withdrawal due to injury, Bastianini was motivated to move up the order from the start and he duly maintained position on the first lap. However, the Italian found his understeer issues to be worse in the early stages when riding on grippy, new tyres.

By the fifth lap Bastianini had some clean air in front of him and felt more comfortable, and ‘La Bestia’ was soon fighting with Jack Miller and Joan Mir for 14th. After gaining a place due to another rider’s crash, the #23 rider passed Mir on lap seven and came home in 14th, just three tenths back of Miller. 

It proved to be a tricky race for Viñales. The Spaniard held position on the first lap, but it was soon clear that his feeling with the KTM RC16 was far from ideal. Gaining little feedback from the front end of his machine, ‘Top Gun’ was unable to make up any places over the resulting 14 laps and finished in 19th. The 31-year-old will work with his team this evening to find a solution to the issue.

Bastianini and Viñales are now preparing for race day at the German Grand Prix. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 teammates aim to test setup changes in the Warm Up session at 09:40 (UTC+2) before Sunday’s 30-lap race, which starts at 14:00 (UTC+2).

Enea Bastianini: “Today nothing we tried seemed to work. Yesterday we were much closer to the front but today the other bikes improved and we didn’t manage that. We had a lot of understeer, especially in the race. I did the first four laps and I don’t know how I didn’t crash. After that, when I was alone and a bit behind Jack and Brad (Binder), it was better. I could improve my pace and felt more comfortable on the bike. This track isn’t one of my favourites, but this isn’t an excuse. I think we can do something more tomorrow. I have to be honest and say my riding wasn’t perfect today. Our potential is to be in the top eight or ten.”

Maverick Viñales: “I struggled today. We need to understand why and keep working. It’s very important to give good feedback to the team so they can help me. Basically, I feel like I have really low front grip, especially when I’m with new tyres. I’m really not turning and it’s like I can lose the front at any moment. It’s bad to ride like that because I cannot carry any corner speed. In the Sprint I braked very late at two or three points, missed the corner and was very close to going off track. Then I was trying a few things with my riding style to see if it would help the bike, but I ended up in the same situation. At least we have good information from today, so we’ll try to improve our setting for tomorrow.”

Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “This was a disappointing Saturday in Germany. Enea missed Q2 yesterday by 0.013s. He was so close and we thought he had a good chance to progress there this morning. But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case and he was slower than yesterday’s lap times. Enea doesn’t really feel comfortable this weekend with the bike, so now it’s time to work and make some progress for tomorrow. Maverick also hasn’t felt comfortable so far this weekend. We need to understand what has happened and we’ll do everything we can to make progress for Sunday’s main race.”