Enea Bastianini continues to struggle to adapt to the KTM – the RC16 requires the opposite approach, which he is not yet able to implement naturally
The new Tech3 duo continued to work on adapting to the KTM during the Thailand test. On the last day of testing, both riders set their personal best lap times in the late afternoon. Maverick Vinales reduced his gap to seven tenths of a second in his qualifying attempt.
Enea Bastianini was almost a second behind. This meant that the Italian was around seven tenths of a second behind KTM spearhead Pedro Acosta. Bastianini in particular has had a hard time adjusting to the KTM after four years with Ducati.
“I’m still riding in the Ducati style, but this bike doesn’t like that,” sighs Bastianini. ‘From the outside, the bike looked quite similar, but when you ride the KTM, it’s very different. I need more time than expected to adapt.’
He gives an example: ”The way you have to use the rear brake is completely the opposite. You must not use the rear brake when braking straight ahead. Then the rear wheel starts to move a lot. Then vibrations occur.“
”I have to change. This bike is very different from the Ducati. I have to take this step. Yes, it’s my first big change. The KTM is complicated and exactly the opposite of the Ducati. Its strengths are the complete opposite.”
Alberto Giribuola is back alongside Bastianini. The two Italians have already worked together at Avintia in 2021 and at Gresini in 2022, winning four Grands Prix. Giribuola joined KTM at the end of 2022 to work as a performance analyst.
Marco Rigamonti was Bastianini’s crew chief in the Ducati factory team for the past two years. This team has now taken on Marc Marquez. Giribuola is important for Bastianini, also because of the common language.
The direction of Ducati does not work with the KTM
However, they first tried something with the KTM RC16 that didn’t work. “The problem is that we took the direction we had at Ducati,” says Bastianini. “But that doesn’t work with this bike.”
“I tried to ride corner speed. But Pedro rides the corners completely differently. He decelerates a lot and then accelerates. We tried his set-up and that worked better. I got faster. That’s how you have to approach this bike.“
”But it’s not natural for me. That’s why I’m not as fast as Pedro at the moment.” Nevertheless, Bastianini is adamant: ”I know exactly what I have to do.” But he can’t do that naturally while riding yet.
“Yes, it’s not coming naturally yet. The transition is not easy, but in the end I did a good lap. But I’m not at 100 percent yet, because that’s not crucial at the moment. But the lap time was quite good overall.”
The 27-year-old has also noticed another problem that is causing him difficulties: “When you switch from a new to a used tire, the bike changes a lot. Then you have to ride a different style again.”
“I didn’t finish the sprint simulation because of vibrations. I estimate that the race will be complicated. We also need to work more with used tires because the degradation is very high.”
Overall, Bastianini is therefore preparing for a difficult season opener in Buriram in two weeks’ time: ‘Now it’s important to study the data carefully. I have to learn. As I said, the bike is completely different. My approach is not yet correct at the moment.’
