For a second-consecutive year, Thailand hosts the season opener, and Tech3 returns to a circuit where the team has built significant history. Last year’s efforts delivered an inspiring Top 10 result for Bastianini from P20 on the grid, but the team will be looking to replicate its podium finish from 2024.

Today saw both riders complete their first official sessions of the 2026 season, as the team continues to adapt its KTM RC16 machines to the demanding heat and rapid rhythm of Buriram.

Eager to build on the Buriram test, Viñales was the first of all the riders to head out in FP1, but began his eleventh MotoGP season with a 1’30.490 to finish 19th. For the afternoon’s Practice, the #12 rider began on race pace before switching to time attacks. A 1’29.623 on his second to last lap put Viñales 12th, just 0.033s shy of the top 10, sending the Spaniard into Q1 on Saturday as he targets a coveted spot in Q2.

Bastianini made a steadier start to his Thai GP weekend, setting a 1’30.347 in FP1 to finish 15th, just over one second adrift of the leading time. During the all-important Practice, the Italian locked in immediately, setting his best lap of 1’30.030 early in the session. This was 1.504s behind today’s leader, Marco Bezzecchi, and only enough for 17th place and a spot in Q1.

With Friday now complete, focus shifts to qualifying and race strategy. Both Tech3 riders will compete in Q1 at 10:50 (UTC+7), following FP2 at 10:10. The season’s initial 13-lap Sprint – the Grand Prix of Thailand’s Tissot Sprint – begins at 15:00 (UTC+7) and provides the first opportunity for Viñales and Bastianini to convert their winter preparations into 2026 championship points.

Maverick Viñales: "We improved compared to this morning, which is positive, but we still need to work on the consistency, especially with braking where the feeling isn’t quite there yet. The gap is coming from just a couple of corners, which shows we have the potential - we just need to put everything together. The conditions were better than expected and didn’t affect us too much, so now it’s about understanding the tyre behaviour and finding a more stable feeling. We have time to analyse the data, and I’m confident we can make another step forward for the rest of the weekend."

Enea Bastianini: "We ran the same setup as in testing and, honestly, I feel a bit better. The afternoon strategy didn’t help us maximise the lap time, because we tried lots of new things at once, but with the new chassis I can see clear potential. We still need to improve grip on the edge where the bike spins a bit more, but for timing it is a bit better. We’re not at 100% yet, but with some changes I’m confident we can take another step forward."