Carlo Pernat explains what he would have done to ‘fraudulent’ KTM deal with Enea Bastianini

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Enea Bastianini faces a new challenge in 2025 as he heads to KTM Tech3 after being dropped from Ducati’s factory line-up.

Last year’s standings would suggest that it’s a downgrade to be switching between the two teams, and recent events haven’t helped that theory either.

KTM’s MotoGP future is in doubt amid a financial crisis, making Bastianini’s move quite bad timing as he moves away from one of the sport’s premiere rides.

They affirmed their commitment to racing until the end of 2026, but when the new regulations arrive the following year, it’s unknown whether they will still be on the grid.

Rumours suggest that Bastianini’s KTM deal was small, but he had to make a move fast to ensure that he had a seat for 2025 last summer.

The Italian lines up alongside Maverick Vinales, completing what is a strong and experienced pairing for a team that should still have high hopes for the season.

Carlo Pernat would have ‘torn up’ Enea Bastianini’s KTM contract

The KTM family is inheriting a very talented rider and seven-time race winner in Bastianini, who was disappointed with his performances against ex-teammate Francesco Bagnaia last season.

He has changed management ahead of 2025 and is no longer associated with Carlo Pernat, who helped him earn his current deal.

READ MORE: KTM bosses decided that ‘radical’ idea was absolutely out of the question for 2025 MotoGP season

Pernat has now revealed that he would have torn up Bastianini’s contract if he had known about their current financial status last summer.

“Going to look for a rider like Bastianini even knowing the situation,” he said. “You are in, and frankly I am p—– off also because if I went back it is clear that you don’t make a contract with idiots.

“If there was one it would have been in a time where there would have been places, I would have torn up that contract and with a lawyer, I would have been right because I experience it as a fraudulent contract.”

How long is Enea Bastianini’s MotoGP KTM Tech3 contract?

Pernat also hit out at KTM for someone’s ugly behaviour in contract talks last week following the announcement of a management change.

Before he left, he secured a deal for Bastianini to race for Tech3 until the end of 2026. It could be the end of the Austrian manufacturer’s commitment to the sport.

Mercedes were a candidate to save KTM with Stefan Pierer links. The KTM CEO has been involved in meetings with them since 2023.

They might yet survive under their own power, but motorsport is something they could save huge money on if they were to cut back on their operations.

Bastianini may already be plotting his next move, or he risks being left without a ride at the end of 2026.