Enea Bastianini has two remaining opportunities to finish his KTM Tech3 spell with a MotoGP Grand Prix podium. The Italian is expected to continue his career with Trackhouse Aprilia, and he wants to leave KTM with a top-three result added to this season’s record.

Bastianini’s only Sunday podium on a KTM is still his third place at last year’s Catalunya Grand Prix. This season, he was elevated to the COTA Sprint podium after Pedro Acosta received a tyre-pressure penalty. At Motegi, however, Bastianini lost another Sprint podium following a final-lap track-limits violation. He then came within 0.078 seconds of a Sunday podium at the Japanese Grand Prix.

What happened in Qatar

Bastianini finished fifth at Lusail, matching his result at Sepang, and led the KTM riders in Qatar. He tried to remain close to Pedro Acosta and Marc Márquez while saving his tyres for the closing stages. The RC16’s main problem was chatter through the left-hand corners. Bastianini said it had been present throughout the weekend and became more pronounced in both the Sprint and the Grand Prix.

His tenth place in the championship does not tell the whole story of his campaign: Bastianini has been the leading RC16 finisher in nine races. His best results include third in the United States Sprint, fourth in both the Japanese Sprint and Japanese Grand Prix, and fifth in Qatar. He also recorded eighth in the Spanish Grand Prix, seventh in the Czech Sprint, tenth in the Czech Grand Prix, eighth in the Dutch Sprint and sixth in the Dutch Grand Prix. The target for his final two opportunities is straightforward—a podium, starting with Portugal as the next round.