After a strong opening day at Round 3 of the 2026 MotoGP™ World Championship, Enea Bastianini faced early adversity in Saturday morning’s Q2. Running in 11th, the Italian crashed with just over ten minutes remaining, presenting a setback in the crucial stages of Qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas.

Despite the incident, Bastianini was able to remount his KTM machine and return to the pits. The Italian then headed out on track for his final time attacks, eventually finishing in 12th with lap times tight across the grid.

Starting from the fourth row, Bastianini wasted no time making progress in the Sprint, gaining two positions in the early stages. Drama unfolded ahead on the opening lap as Marc Márquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio crashed out, promoting the Tech3 rider up to P8 and firmly into the fight for a strong result.

Bastianini began carving his way forward and, with four laps remaining, executed a move on Luca Marini to move into P7. One lap later, another twist saw Marco Bezzecchi crash out from second place, elevating the #23 rider into sixth.

With two laps to go, Bastianini closed in rapidly on Álex Márquez and made an initial attempt to pass but was unable to make it stick on the corner exit.

The stage was set for a final-lap showdown, and Bastianini made it count. A decisive move in the opening sector secured P5 and, as riders battled ahead, the door opened for Bastianini to surge into fourth before taking the chequered flag.

Post-race Pedro Acosta received an eight-second penalty for a tyre pressure infringement, promoting Bastianini to third place and his best Sprint result since last year’s Grand Prix of Czechia.

A strong recovery from a difficult Qualifying sees Red Bull KTM Tech3 head into Sunday’s all-important 20-lap shoot-out (15:00 UTC-5) with momentum on their side.

Enea Bastianini: “I am happy with this result. After a couple of difficult weekends, we were able to find our speed again and be competitive. I think we made the right choice with the rear tyre, which helped us return to the front. There was a bit of luck with what happened at the start, but we also fought hard, recovered positions, and the team did a very good job. This podium shows that we are still capable of challenging at a high level. Of course, there are still areas where we need to improve, and we know we are not yet where we want to be. But we are working closely together and giving our best in every race. We will try to do the same again tomorrow.”

Nicolas Goyon, Team Manager: “That’s the beauty of this sport and it’s what MotoGP is all about. It’s a real mix of emotion. We started the weekend in a very difficult way, with Maverick making the difficult but sensible decision to stop racing for the remainder of this weekend. At the same time, Enea managed to go directly into Q2 on Friday afternoon, which was the first time since Barcelona and gave the team a good boost heading into Saturday.

“We know that when Enea starts inside the Top 12, he can deliver a brilliant race. Today, he had a good start and built his race very cleverly. Finishing fourth after starting 12th on the grid was already a great result. In the end, Pedro Acosta’s penalty promoted us to third position, so congratulations again to Enea. It has been a good day for us, but tomorrow remains the main target, and we will keep working to achieve another strong performance.”