Following the searing temperatures of Italy five days ago, an overcast sky and cooler conditions greeted Red Bull KTM Tech3 on their second visit to Hungary since 1992, with ambient temperatures peaking at 19 degrees during Friday’s Practice.

Adapting from Mugello’s fast, sweeping corners to the Balaton Park Circuit’s tight hairpins and numerous low-gear chicanes was among the challenges of FP1 on Friday morning when Viñales ended up 14th with Bastianini behind in 18th.

The wind had picked up considerably by the time Practice rolled around. While both riders jumped up inside the top ten with just over ten minutes to play, neither rider could improve substantially in the final minutes, leaving ‘La Bestia’ 15th at the close of the hour, and ‘Top Gun’ 19th.

Despite lapping comfortably in the 1’39s through Practice, Bastianini found he was losing in the heavy acceleration areas to his rivals. But once up to speed, the Italian was able to show off the engine of his KTM RC16 as he topped the top speed charts by clocking 302kph at the end of the start-finish straight. The #23 rider was also very competitive in the track’s first and second Sectors but was losing considerable time in Sector 3 – a clear area to improve for Saturday.

After missing last year’s inaugural race at this track due to injury, Viñales quickly learnt the ideal racing lines around the highly technical 4.8km layout. Once up to speed in the afternoon, the 31-year-old was rapid through the final fast lefts of the track, setting the fifth fastest time in Sector 4. The 2013 Moto3™ World Champion caught a yellow flag in his final and potentially best run and was struggling to turn the bike through the slow chicanes, which his highly experienced crew will work to better this evening.

An intriguing Saturday awaits at the track 90km southwest of Budapest. Bastianini and Viñales will use the thirty minutes of track time in FP2 at 10:10 CEST (UTC+2) to adjust the settings of their KTM RC16s ahead of MotoGP™ Qualifying, which starts at 10:50 (UTC+2) and will decide the grid positions for the 13-lap Sprint at 15:00 (UTC+2).

Enea Bastianini: “To be honest, I’m not completely happy because it’s always important to be inside the top positions on Friday, but we now have a clear direction to work in. This morning was a bit confusing, but in the afternoon, we confirmed the setup changes we need to make.

"We were close to taking a step forward already today, and I’m confident we can try it tomorrow. We’ve analysed the data and there are some positive signs, even if it’s a track where you need a perfect lap to be competitive. I’m confident we can fight to move into Q2. There’s still work to do, but I feel we can improve, and the potential is there.”

Maverick Viñales: “The shoulder is feeling better and it’s much easier to manage that at this track. Today was the first time I could do longer runs since I returned in Barcelona. That was quite good to understand the bike and get more comfortable. I’ll keep doing long runs until I understand how to go faster with this bike.

“In Practice I got a yellow flag in Sector 2 when I was pushing in the last time attack. I think a 1’37.7 was possible but I don’t know if that would’ve been enough to go directly to Q2. I’m trying to ride the bike in one way, which isn’t so effective in the time attack, so I need to work well in the garage to understand which changes I need to make to get the best from this KTM.”