Any hopes of cooling off after the Brno heat were quickly dispelled in the Netherlands. The historic Dutch venue was bathed in sunshine throughout Friday, with temperatures hitting a steamy 36 degrees in the afternoon.

There were signs of potential for Viñales in FP1 when he set the ninth fastest time, while Bastianini was 15th, but track conditions were more complicated in the afternoon. As track temperatures hit just shy of 50 degrees, the surface was slippery around the 4.54-km layout.

Bastianini had an action-packed Practice. The Italian had to run off track to avoid another rider cruising on the racing line through Turn 12 and found himself just outside the top ten with ten minutes to go.

The session was then red flagged due to a crash for Aléx Márquez, and restarted with just three minutes remaining. This meant the Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders had just one flying lap to rise up the order.

Boosted by a new front tyre, ‘La Bestia’ timed his last attack to perfection. He rose from outside the top ten to sit eighth at the end of Practice, just 0.4s back of the top.

Having alternated between KTM RC16s with different aerodynamic configurations as he attempts to find an optimal feeling, Viñales managed to improve late on to sit 16th at the close of the day - 1.1s back of Marco Bezzecchi.

The frenetic action continues on Saturday with Viñales and Bastianini benefiting from the thirty minutes of track time in FP2 at 10:10 CEST (UTC+2) before the 15-minute Q1 and Q2 sessions, which start at 10:50 (UTC+2) and will decide the grid positions for the 13-lap Sprint race at 15:00 (UTC+2).

Enea Bastianini: “This afternoon the grip was low. I was two seconds slower than the time attack, which was strange because the rear tyre was new. I think the heat made the track conditions very complicated, but when we put on the new front, the feeling changed, and it was possible to push again. I thought, ‘OK, with this feeling I have the chance to go through to Q2’, and I did it during the last time attack! Tomorrow morning we’ll try to ride with the used front tyre. I hope to feel a bit safer so let’s see what we can do.”

Maverick Viñales: “I’m struggling a lot here. In four corners I’m losing most of the gap to the other KTMs. As much as I want, physically I cannot do it. As a consequence of that I’m pushing too hard in other places. I’m locking the front, losing the front and the rear everywhere, all because I’m trying to recover the gap. The next round at the Sachsenring will be much easier than here in terms of physical condition, but it’s also important to evaluate what I have to do to recover fully.”