An attendance of 98,423 packed into the grandstands around the Sachsenring to watch the eleventh MotoGP™ race of 2026, with ambient temperatures at a weekend high of 29 degrees. With the layout featuring ten left-hand corners, managing the left side of both front and rear tyres over 30 laps was crucial.

Starting 15th due to a penalty for another rider, plus Marco Bezzecchi’s withdrawal, Bastianini did not achieve the best jump off the line but maintained position on the first lap. The Italian struggled in the early laps with a lack of stability when in the slipstream of other bikes, as well as understeer, but ‘La Bestia’ started moving up the order on lap seven.

Passes on Alex Rins and Franco Morbidelli put the #23 KTM bike within reach of an exciting fight for eighth place, which included three other riders. A strong, consistent second half of the race saw Bastianini pass Brad Binder on lap 25 and Jack Miller on the following lap to secure a strong ninth place - just 1.5s back of seventh. 

It was a difficult afternoon for Viñales. The Spaniard struggled to find an ideal feeling with his KTM RC16 around the tight Sachsenring layout and was fighting with Cal Crutchlow and Toprak Razgatlioglu for the final point in 15th. As the race wore on, ‘Top Gun’ found the strength in his left shoulder fading, which resulted in him retiring from the race with four laps to go.

After an exhaustive run of seven Grand Prix in the past ten weeks, Bastianini and Viñales will enjoy a three-week summer break before resuming at Silverstone for the Grand Prix of Great Britain from 7-9 August.

Enea Bastianini: “You can overtake here but it’s very difficult, especially at the start of the race. The bike was shaking a lot when I was in the slipstream of other riders in the first ten laps, and we had a lot of understeer. After that I found a good feeling and with each lap my bike felt better. It was possible to do the last ten laps with a good pace. The tyre life wasn’t so bad. I now know that rather than sit behind a rider and study them I must overtake straightaway. If you wait, it’s already too late! I’m not happy about the weekend as a whole. It’s been very complicated coming from a positive race at Assen, but we gave our maximum and saved a top ten with this ninth place.”

Maverick Viñales: “Obviously, I didn’t have a good feeling with the bike this weekend but physically I couldn’t give any more. Today on the brakes I needed to go completely straight because I couldn’t hang off the bike. It’s difficult to take because I’ve given my maximum. I don’t understand the bike or how to ride it plus I’m riding with a handicap so it’s not the perfect match. I really want to recover over the summer and do good races rather than just riding around. That’s the objective now over the coming weeks..”

Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “Mixed feelings for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad today here at the Sachsenring. We know this isn’t Enea’s favourite track but this P9 is a good reward for the team. He was able to pass four riders, at a tough track to overtake, which showed he had some good pace, so we’re happy with the result. On the other side of the garage, it’s probably been one of the most difficult weekends since Maverick started with our team. He could never feel comfortable with the bike and he struggled with his shoulder strength through the weekend. Finally, he decided to pull in during the race. This is obviously very disappointing, and the summer break comes at the right moment. The holiday is well deserved for the whole crew, who have worked incredibly hard in this first half of the season.”