The action of the Motul Grand Prix of Japan began on Friday for Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales, as MotoGP™ settled at the Mobility Resort Motegi track for the first out of four stops in Asia. Day 1 of action promised sparkles to come for the weekend, as an extremely tight Practice saw 20 riders finish less than one second of each other. Bastianini missed out on a direct Q2 ticket by just 0.009 seconds as he took the 12th time, while Viñales finished 1.6 seconds from the fastest, in P23.

Grand Prix of Japan

Enea Bastianini was excited to come to Japan, one of his favorite countries to come to on the calendar, one where he met great success in the past. In the morning’s Free Practice 1, the number 23 discovered the feeling on the RC16 on the Japanese layout, and despite his fastest lap in 1'45.866 being just 1.009 seconds from early pace setter Francesco Bagnaia, Bastianini closed the timesheets. In the afternoon’s Practice, Enea made some significant improvements to ride a best in 1'43.743 as he followed ex-teammate Francesco Bagnaia. While that lap provisionally had him in 7th just a few minutes before the checkered flag, a few late yellow flags prevented Enea from improving, and a very late improvement from Johann Zarco kicked Enea out of the Q2 spots, as he eventually finished in P12, just 0.009 seconds from the top 10. Unfortunate for Bastianini, who will have to go through Q1 on Saturday morning.

Maverick Viñales was super happy too to be back in Motegi and meet all his Japanese fans. The week of recovery between Misano and Japan gave Maverick some precious time to gain back some muscles, and ‘Top Gun’ arrived in Motegi in a much better shape. The first feelings on the KTM were positive for Maverick in the morning’s FP1 session he finished just 0.9 seconds from Bagnaia. On the shoulder's side, the feeling was really positive for Maverick, who saw the pain considerably decrease. Later in the afternoon’s Practice, Maverick faced some bike issues which appeared to bother him quite a lot, and he could not really find a way to face them during the one-hour session. A lot of work awaits the squad tonight, as he will face Q1 just after FP2 kicking off Super Saturday at 10:10 (UTC+2).

ENEA BASTIANINI: "The day has been tough to be honest. We had no confidence this morning in FP1, which I was quite surprised about, because we left Misano with a good feeling. In the afternoon, we tried a different set up, and in the end, we felt much better. The time attacks were good, I ended very close to Q2, and with all of us so close, it was tough to make the cut. We still need to improve for tomorrow, because it’s not the position where I want to be."

MAVERICK VIÑALES: "The day has been difficult for us, with a few issues on the bike. We have had a lot of chattering on the bike, and we need to understand why ours is making so much chatter compared to our teammates. The rest was good for us, we are strong in some corners, but the chattering is a huge problem right now. Let’s try to understand because we need to sort it out. On the shoulder’s side, we are feeling much better, with very little pain, and I can ride more relaxed, so I am happy with that."

PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS

TRACK RECORDS

All Time Record: 2024 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 1'43.018 - 167.7 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1'44.461 - 165.4 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 1'43.018 - 167.7 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 319.5 km/h