The Grand Prix of Catalonia action kicked off with big news from Tech3’s side on Friday, and the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP™ squad was eager to make it a memorable weekend. At the end of a very competitive day which saw 19 riders finish less than one second from each other, Enea Bastianini found a way to make the top 10 cut as he grabbed the 6th time of Practice, while returning Maverick Viñales got the first sensations back on the bike after an extra two weeks dedicated to his shoulder recovery.

Grand Prix of Catalonia

A hungry Enea Bastianini approached this new race weekend in Barcelona, after crashing in the first lap of both sprint and main race two weeks ago at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Italian rider started his Catalan Grand Prix campaign showing encouraging pace in FP1, finishing in P10 with a 1'39.605 (+0.626). The first big moment of the weekend approached at 3pm with the one-hour Practice session, and it was undoubtedly one of the closest of the season so far. 19 riders finished less than one second from each other, with the last of the timesheets being just 2 seconds from pacesetter Pedro Acosta. Half an hour into the session, Bastianini sat in a provisional 6th place with a 1’39.359, while Alex Marquez led the session shortly before the time attacks. As the final 15 minutes started, Bastianini improved right away to a 1’38.972 as he exited the pit box, but Marc Marquez beat him quickly by 0.4 seconds. All riders improved and Enea found himself out of the top 10 just 5 mins to the final checkered flag. A late effort from the Italian in his final run saw him improve to a 1’38.490 to move up to 6th, shortly before a late crash that called it out for the day. P6 remained his final position, as the number 23 will have the chance to fight for the front row positions on Saturday morning.

Maverick Viñales was back with the team for the first time since the Austrian Grand Prix, as the Catalan was excited for his home round. Top Gun was not going to be at his 100%, that was clear, but the target was to complete a full race weekend, for the first time in two months since his crash at the German Grand Prix. The feeling was very positive in the opening FP1, with Viñales progressively finding his way back to the top of the timesheets. He finished the first session with the 4th fastest time, just 0.389 seconds from Pedro Acosta, an encouraging performance for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider. He was a bit more cautious in the afternoon as he completed just 17 laps, but it was an important session for the Spaniard, who did not feel any pain. He was in P23 at the end of the day, and he will look forward to continuing his return to full fitness as the action resumes on Saturday morning at 10:10 LT with FP2, followed shortly with the qualifying sessions. Then, it will be time for the Tissot Sprint, at 15:00 (UTC+2), for 12 laps.

ENEA BASTIANINI: "The two sessions have been positive for us, the pace was very good with the soft tires, although we need to carefully analyze everything for tomorrow, because the grip is too low this year, and we expect a big drop. I crashed at T2 today unfortunately at the end, but it seems that I crash every year at this corner, so it looks like a bad habit, which I need to accept! Anyway, it was a very good day for us, and I am looking forward to continuing the work tomorrow."

MAVERICK VIÑALES: "Honestly, it is a gift that I am able to ride here in Montmelo, it is much sooner than I expected. Today, we just tried to ride to understand how the shoulder would react. We felt quite limited as the day went by, but I am just really happy to be here today. We need more time, it is tough physically as I have lost muscles and I am basically riding with one arm, but we knew all of this arriving here. Let’s take things step by step."

PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS

TRACK RECORDS

All Time Record: 2025 - B. Binder (RSA) - 1'38.141 - 170.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 1'39.664 - 168.2 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - A. Espargaro (SPA) - 1'38.190 - 170.7 km/h
Top Speed: 2023 - A. Espargaro (SPA) - 356.4 km/h