Qualifying
After gaining automatic entry into Q2 on a Friday for the fourth time in the past five rounds, Bastianini took part in a highly competitive qualifying session in which the all-time lap record was smashed by 0.38s. A strong first run provided the Italian with a solid platform and while he improved by close to 0.3s on his final flying lap, it was only enough for tenth place, almost a second off pole. Viñales, who is still hampered by a shoulder injury, was eighth in Q1 and P18 overall.

Sprint
Much like Friday, the 5.38km track had cooled considerably for the Sprint, which kicked off under the floodlights at 19:00 AST (UTC+3). Track temperatures had dropped by ten degrees from qualifying to sit at 33 degrees before the 11-lap shootout.

The Sprint was red flagged at the end of lap two due to a nasty collision between Pecco Bagnaia and Fermin Aldeguer. After a quick start procedure, the restart was held over ten laps after a near 20-minute delay.

Racing the medium Michelin rear tyre to gain valuable experience for Sunday’s Grand Prix, Bastianini was unable to gain significant ground in the restart. But the Italian soon found his groove. After getting past Ai Ogura then Aldeguer, he was seventh by lap four, 1.2s back of the podium fight.

While ‘La Bestia’ was able to close in on Pedro Acosta, he couldn’t defend from Ogura’s late attack, eventually crossing the line in eighth while struggling with vibration in the closing laps. He is confident the experience with his less-favoured medium rear tyre will pay off on Sunday.

It was a tricky Saturday for Viñales. The Spaniard continues to struggle with a lack of strength and feels he cannot ride the KTM RC16 to the best of his ability. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth in the Sprint to climb two places from his starting position in P17 and posted his fastest time with three laps to go.

Red Bull KTM Tech3 is fully fired up to improve further on Sunday, when the schedule differs to normal. MotoGP ™ kicks off five hours later than usual with Warm Up taking place at 14:40 local time (UTC+3) and the 22-lap race getting underway under the famous floodlights at 19:00 (UTC+3). 

Enea Bastianini: “It’s been a bit complicated today. In FP2 we were trying to work with the medium rear, but I was very slow and my feeling was not incredible. When we changed to the soft it was much better, but for the race we were sure about our choice, because last year the riders who went with the soft made a big mistake. The Sprint was more or less as I expected. The first start was better for me, the second one a bit less, and after a few laps I was already suffering a lot with vibration. Last year it was more or less the same. This year the problem had been partly resolved, but today it came back. After that, I tried to stay close to the riders in front, but it was really tough. Anyway, we scored some points. The vibration was worse when I picked up the throttle, especially in sectors three and four. We will try to solve the problem for tomorrow, because before this we were competitive, and we can fight for something more than eighth place.”

Maverick Viñales: “It’s difficult to accept days like today, especially when I know I’m capable of so much more. I’m really frustrated because I’m not able to ride at my level right now. Physically I’m still struggling, and it’s becoming harder to understand what’s happening with the bike when I can’t push the way I want to. It’s not an easy situation, but I’m trying to give 100% every time I go out on track."

Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “I believe we should be happy with today’s result, with eighth position for Enea Bastianini here in Qatar. Earlier today, he struggled a little to have a strong qualifying and ended up in tenth position. In the Sprint, he decided to focus on tomorrow’s main race and used the medium tyre, which is obviously not the best tyre for him, but he made this choice to work for tomorrow. Finishing in eighth position is a decent result, and these two points will help the team in the championship fight, so it’s a good result today. On the other side of the garage, it’s clear that Maverick is struggling. He has been struggling in all the last races and sessions, and tomorrow will clearly be a challenge to finish the race. But that’s the reality at the moment, and we have to face it. We have to finish this weekend, and then we’ll see what happens."