Enea Bastianini “panicked” by picking KTM; Aprilia “would have chosen” him

Enea Bastianini committed too early to KTM, it has been suggested.

Bastianini became the forgotten man in the battle between Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin for the 2025 factory Ducati seat.

Current incumbent Bastianini saw the writing on the wall and, shortly after Marquez was confirmed, he signed for KTM’s Tech3 team for next season.

“In reality, we know he wanted to stay but it was taken away from him,” TNT Sports’ Neil Hodgson said.

“I think he panicked a little bit. All of the seats were being taken up quickly. The Tech3 KTM seat was available and he just jumped ship.

“If he waited, even two or three days, the factory Aprilia ride would have been available for him.

“I think they would have chosen Enea in front of Marco Bezzecchi. I would have, if I had the choice of those two riders.

“I think he’ll regret that now. But, if you don’t make a decision? Someone will end up with no ride!”

KTM have named an exciting new-look duo of Bastianini and Maverick Vinales for Tech3 next season, promising them identical machinery to the factory pair of Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta.

But KTM’s slip away from competing with the dominant Ducatis this season remains a worry.

“At the moment, there is no solution,” Sylvain Guintoli said.

“There is restructuring, [technical director] Fabiano Sterlacchini is on his way out. They have not renewed him.

“For now, it looks like they are struggling. On most tracks, Ducatis and Aprilias make inroads but KTM are not making that step.”

Hodgson added: “I spoke to the riders. The problem is that it’s not just one key area, like braking stability or the electronics.

“It’s a little bit of everything which makes the puzzle even harder to fix.

“They are small details. We are talking about, maybe, 0.2 or 0.3 of a second. But to find that is huge, it’s not a simple fix.

“But KTM are so serious about winning at this level so they’ll throw everything at it.

“They’ve got such a good line-up next year, they’ve got the right riders and they need to produce the right motorcycle for them.”

Even the form of teenage rookie Acosta has disappeared at recent rounds.

After early podiums in Portugal and America, he hasn’t threatened the usual frontrunners at the past couple of rounds.

“Acosta jumped on that bike and, even in winter testing, was able to go super fast,” Guintoli commented.

“He felt comfortable with the front end of the bike. In the first GPs he made a difference, and put pressure on Binder and Jack Miller.

“Since then, he’s had a few hiccups and a few crashes.”