At the Jerez MotoGP test, Maverick Viñales was once again in strong form, showing his competitiveness on the Tech3 KTM. However, his teammate Enea Bastianini is still working on gaining confidence with the bike, although he did make some small progress.

Bastianini, who finished ninth in the Spanish Grand Prix, entered the official in-season test with the goal of getting more from his KTM machine. His best lap time came late in the day during a time attack, but even with his fastest lap, he ended up 14th overall.

“I finished with a good lap time, but I’m not happy because I’m still not feeling comfortable on the bike,” Bastianini said, as quoted by Crash.net. “When you’re uncomfortable, it’s hard to push the bike to its limit. But I’m confident that in a few weeks, we can solve this issue, and I’ll adapt better.”

And while Bastianini showed some improvement on paper, he admitted that there are still challenges to overcome. One of the biggest issues is corner speed, which remains the weakest part of his riding. Both Bastianini and the team are focusing on improving this aspect of his performance. KTM even provided new parts for the bike to try, yet the results were mixed.

“We tried some solutions on the bike, and some of them helped me go faster. The improvements are small right now, but that’s okay,” Bastianini said. “Some things worked well, and others didn’t.”

Another problem for Bastianini is that he doesn’t feel the expected benefit from using fresh tyres. “When I put on new tyres, I don’t understand why, but my grip feels almost the same as with used tyres,” he explained.

Despite these challenges, Bastianini was encouraged by Viñales’ pace and the potential of the bike. While Viñales finished the test second-fastest, Bastianini remained optimistic. “Maverick has been very, very fast again, and it shows that the team can do a great job with the bike,” he said.

Next up for the Tech3 team is the French Grand Prix at Le Mans, and Bastianini hopes that with more time and effort, he will be able to unlock the full potential of the KTM and get closer to his teammate’s pace.