Buoyed by a Sprint podium and sixth place in the Grand Prix in Austin three weeks ago, the Italian arrived at the Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto ready to build on that form at the first European round of the 2026 season.

In the absence of teammate Maverick Viñales - who continues to recover from corrective shoulder surgery, with the aim of returning to the team’s home race at Le Mans - Bastianini is the sole Tech3 MotoGP rider in action this weekend. 

After 17 laps in FP1 around the tight, twisty southern Spanish circuit — a fixture on the championship calendar for almost four decades — he moved into the afternoon Practice session knowing only a top-ten finish would secure automatic Q2 entry.

In prime conditions – with comparatively cool temperatures and an absence of wind – Bastianini climbed the order as the lap times began to tumble in the closing stages. Sitting 16th in the high-calibre, 23-strong field, he vaulted into the top ten with 15 minutes left on the clock, only to find himself edged into the drop zone again with two-and-a-half minutes remaining.

Characteristically undeterred, the former Moto2 World Champion – seven times a Grand Prix-winner in the premier class – immediately fired his #23 KTM RC16 back up the timing screens. His reward was a P10 finish and second consecutive direct entry into Q2, as he confidently led the KTM charge, winding up just 0.655s shy of the outright benchmark in the tightly contested session.

The competitive action continues tomorrow. Thirty minutes of track time in FP2 at 10:10 CEST (UTC+2) will allow Bastianini to fine-tune his preparations ahead of the 15-minute Q2 shootout just over an hour later at 11:15 (UTC+2), which will decide the grid positions for the 12-lap Sprint race at 15:00 (UTC+2).

Enea Bastianini: “I’m happy because for the first time this year, I’m the top KTM rider. The gaps are very close both in front of us and behind, as we often find when we get to Europe. We took a good step from this morning to this afternoon, so I’m pleased about that and we were still missing something in the fastest corners, so I hope to go even better tomorrow. Let’s see.

“We struggled a lot in the first two rounds of the season, but we found some good solutions last time out in Austin and lap-by-lap, I felt more and more comfortable on the bike. It has been the same here at Jerez, and I hope it continues that way through to Sunday!”