Things ended quite well on Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP™ team, with Pol Espargaro scoring a sprint point in 9th at Phillip Island's Tissot Sprint, after qualifying in 8th earlier in the morning. Enea Bastianini went through a disappointing qualifying, 20th, but the Italian turned things around in the afternoon with a solid performance during the 13 lap-shoutout, as he gained 10 positions to claim the 10th place of the sprint in Australia.
Grand Prix of Australia
QUALIFYING
Following a tough Friday, Enea Bastianini and his team tried to bring new ideas to the table in this morning’s FP2, but somehow, it appeared that the Italian did not quite find what was needed to head to qualifying with confidence. As Q1 began, Enea was quick to return to his pit box after just two laps in, as he was in a provisional P10, 1.048 seconds from our latest winner, Fermin Aldeguer, at the top. For run 2, Enea opted for a group composed of in-pace Jack Miller and Brad Binder. He made a tiny improvement to a 1’28.211, but that was it for Q1, as he qualified in P20 for the Australian Grand Prix. A special guest was in Q2 later on, Pol Espargaro, after a brilliant Friday at Phillip Island. The feeling continued to be good for the Spaniard, who made the effort to clock in a brilliant 1’26.995 in his first run, as he sat in a provisional P3 heading back on track for run 2, while local hero Jack Miller was leading the timetables. A yellow flag caused by Alex Marquez’ second crash stayed on for quite a while, and there wasn’t much time left remaining on the clock when it was removed. While Fabio Quartararo smashed the all-time lap record to fly to pole position at the last second, Pol did not improve his time, and his lap from earlier remained his best, qualifying him in 8th ahead of the Australian Grand Prix!
TISSOT SPRINT
The sun was fully out for the afternoon’s Tissot Sprint, as Pol Espargaro and Enea Bastianini lined up in 8th and 20th. At the lights out, Maverick Viñales’ substitute, Espargaro, jumped to 7th in one lap to sit behind teammate Pedro Acosta, while Raul Fernandez had sprinted to the lead. Meanwhile, Enea Bastianini had taken a rocket start from his P20, to gain 5 positions in one lap as he went through the midpack, to enter lap 2 in P15 just behind Alex Rins. He continued to push, finding on his way Francesco Bagnaia, whom he could overtake, and with Brad Binder going down on lap 2, that was now P13 for the ‘Beast’, behind Johann Zarco. Ahead, Pol Espargaro was holding P7 against Fabio Di Giannantonio behind him, and there was Fabio Quartararo ahead, who had completely missed his start from his 5th pole of the season. Enea Bastianini was showing solid early pace, and he was through Zarco in the first sector of lap 4, now in 12th, with next 0.2 seconds ahead rookie Fermin Aldeguer. The pace was solid for Enea, 1’28.025 on lap 4, 1’27.765 on lap 5, 1'28.053 on lap 6, which opened the battle for 11th against the Gresini rider. A bit more ahead, Espargaro had been caught by Di Giannantonio as he sat in 8th after 6 laps, with double HRC trouble coming from behind, as both Luca Marini and Joan Mir were closing on the Red Bull KTM test rider. On lap 7, Bastianini overtook the Indonesian GP winner to move to 11th, with next on his sight Marini and Mir, 0.3 seconds ahead. Enea continued to provide the effort, and in a few laps, he had completely closed the gap on Joan Mir, meaning he was now in the group led by teammate Pol Espargaro. Speaking about the Spaniard, he was now under pressure, and both Marini and Mir were soon past entering lap 11, but Pol was not going to let it go that easy. The number 44 fought back to gain back P9 over Mir, to earn his second Tissot Sprint point of the season, after earning his first at Brno sprint. From behind, Bastianini ceased his opportunity too, and he was through Mir in the final lap, to reach the checkered flag in P10! Solid effort from the Italian, who gained 10 positions in the space of 13 laps, an encouraging effort heading to the main race on Sunday!
Due to the weather forecast at Phillip Island, the timetable for Sunday at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix has been adjusted to one hour later, meaning that lights of the MotoGP™ race will go out at 15:00 (UTC+11), for 27 laps! This proactive change aims to ensure the best possible conditions for track action and spectators.
POL ESPARGARO: "Saturdays are super stressful, more than Sundays, but I am really pleased with our day! My qualifying lap was really good, which gave me a lot of confidence. However, during the sprint, I was somehow not feeling super comfortable on the bike. I think that the tire combination of soft-rear and hard-front made the bike unbalanced, which I am not really used to. One of my problems is that I struggle to face situations that appear when I am riding, like turbulence from the other bikes, small issues with the weight transfer… Normally in the tests, I am calmer so I can adapt quicker, but anyway, I am happy overall. The body is sore for sure because we had not been on the bike for the last two months, but it is part of the game, and I love it! We have a good day ahead on Sunday, so let’s try pushing!"
ENEA BASTIANINI: "Qualifying was difficult, I was without confidence to push, and always outside of the line, so I did not find the chance to do a good lap time. During the sprint, we improved! It was easier for me to stop the bike with the hard-front tire, and lap by lap, I improved my pace, sometimes it was really close to the top 5, which is the positive of the day for us. Starting from P20 is bad, but we tried to make the best of it. We have come back to a more standard bike set up, made just a few twists, and it felt better this afternoon. I am feeling good heading to Sunday, so let's be positive and try to do a good job in the main race."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "It is a real pleasure to have Pol Espargaro with us this weekend, who is enjoying his time, always with a big smile, which is super nice for the whole team! He earned a point in the sprint, a great achievement which is the result of the hard work of his campaign so far, and we want to thank him for that. He did a solid work on Friday to reach the top 10, which is not an easy task, and he did a great job in qualifying with a 3rd row start. Enea Bastianini has been suffering a lot here since the start of the weekend, with a disappointing qualifying that led us to think that the sprint was going to be a difficult task. However, Enea managed to find a good pace, he rode even quicker than his qualifying time, to achieve a solid top 10. There is a lot to learn from today, as we are heading to tomorrow’s main race with good hope. We know Sunday is going to be windy, so let’s be prepared, keep working, and we should be able to do a strong job!"
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Fabio Quartararo (FRA), Yamaha MotoGP Team, 1'26.465
2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), Aprilia Racing, +0.031
3. Jack Miller (AUS), Pramac MotoGP Team, +0.243
8. Pol Espargaro (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.530
20. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +1.140 (Q1)
TISSOT SPRINT RESULTS
1. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), Aprilia Racing, 19'03.971
2. Raul Fernandez (SPA), Trackhouse MotoGP Team, +3.149
3. Pedro Acosta (SPA), Red Bull KTM Factory, +5.310
9. Pol Espargaro (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +9.252
10. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +9.752
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - M. Bezzecchi (ITA) - 1'26.492 - 185.1 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - M. Marquez (SPA) - 1'27.765 - 182.4 km/h
Best Pole: 2023 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1'27.246 - 183.5 km/h
Top Speed: 2022 - E. Bastianini (ITA) - 356.4 km/h
