Enea Bastianini told he faces one ‘brutal’ issue at Tech3 that he must fix ahead of 2026

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Enea Bastianini has improved a great deal throughout his first MotoGP campaign on a KTM bike in 2025.

The Italian rider was always going to face a tough reality after leaving the factory Ducati team last season, settling on a two-year deal with Tech3. At one stage, it looked as though he wanted out at the end of 2025, but he has become more settled on his bike recently.

Bastianini achieved a podium in Catalunya and has fought his way up to 14th in the MotoGP standings. Sadly, it will still go down as his most difficult season in the championship yet, having suffered a record number of retirements and more non-points finishes than ever.

Bastianini’s role model was once Jack Miller, but the two are facing an uphill battle next year to secure a solid ride for the 2027 season amid a chaotic MotoGP rider market. Just a few weeks ago, Bastianini gave a leave-right-now ultimatum to his ex-crew chief after a revelation that he wanted to leave.

READ MORE: Enea Bastianini shares whether he’d still like to be racing for Ducati alongside Marc Marquez

Enea Bastianini’s lack of MotoGP performance on a Saturday is ‘brutal’ at Tech3

Carlo Pernat thinks Bastianini’s contract is quite open, but there are no longer any open seats for 2026. It wouldn’t be necessary for him to seek a switch, either, considering that he has improved quite a lot recently, too.

Since the summer break, he has had four top 10 finishes, and at the most recent race in Malaysia, he gained 12 places during the Grand Prix to end up seventh.

However, Peter Bom discussed on the Oxley Bom Podcast that the Italian rider faces a ‘brutal’ issue with his performance, and it’s something that he will need to fix for 2026.

“The rest of the weekend is why he’s no longer in Ducati’s factory team, because if you have that speed on Sunday, where are you Friday? Where are you on Saturday?” he said.

“That’s the story of his life, it’s not just only this bike or this year. It’s more or less the story of his life. It’s so sad because it’s such a beautiful but also cruel problem to have.

“I can do anything in the race, but I can’t do it in qualifying. Jesus, I mean, how brutal is that? It was really good what he did [on Sunday].”

READ MORE: Guenther Steiner explains why he won’t replicate F1 team principal role as Tech3 MotoGP owner

How has Enea Bastianini managed to improve during the 2025 MotoGP season?

Bastianini gradually becoming more comfortable with the bike beneath him may be a symptom of KTM bringing an improved machine to races.

The 27-year-old failed to finish higher than seventh in his first 11 races, but has displayed a lot more pace since then.

It coincides with the rise seen by the factory team’s superstar rider, Pedro Acosta, who has also reaped the rewards of their improvements, scoring four podiums in Grands Prix.

It bodes well heading into 2026, and promises that the Austrian manufacturer is capable of producing improvements to the RC16. Perhaps there are more podiums in Bastianini’s future.