Enea Bastianini described the MotoGP Sprint at Sepang as a “disaster” after bringing his Tech3 KTM home in ninth place. He said the loss of grip began on the opening lap, leaving him unable to match the front-runners despite being one of three KTM riders to qualify for Q2.

The race exposed a weakness that had been less visible in qualifying. Bastianini had been competitive in the first two sectors and the fourth, but gave away time in the third. During the Sprint, acceleration was particularly difficult and he had to recover ground under braking. Rain later arrived and forced him to give up more time; he closed the gap slightly on the final lap, but too late to alter the result.

Bastianini linked the problem to how the motorcycle behaves as the tyres lose performance. He said he can no longer ride as he once did in the closing stages of a race or draw on his usual late-race speed with used tyres. Japan offered a contrasting example: KTM had been strong at the end there when tyre wear was limited, while circuits that punish the tyres expose greater difficulty. Brad Binder was the only KTM rider to miss Q2 and finished seventh. Maverick Viñales, meanwhile, pitted for wet-weather tyres and lost his chance of a good result. Bastianini’s short-term response was clear: the team would work for the following day.