Rounds 1-10 pre-chicken, and rounds 12-15 since heading into this weekend\u2019s San Marino Grand Prix. <\/p>\n
It may be coincidental, but a leaner, meaner Bastianini has started to resemble the rider KTM signed when Ducati moved on from the Italian to promote Marc Marquez for this season.<\/p>\n
After scoring 42 points in the first 10 rounds of the year to sit in a miserable 15th place in the world championship \u2013 Bastianini hadn\u2019t finished that low in a season where he\u2019s been fully fit since his rookie year of 2021 \u2013 the 27-year-old was hospitalised in the lead-up to the German Grand Prix in July with what was initially thought to be appendicitis, but turned out to be something more left-field.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1756769048_562_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n
NINE PENALTIES, 14 MONTHS<\/a> The expanding rap sheet of MotoGP\u2019s serial offender<\/p>\n TALKING POINTS<\/a> Victor\u2019s sweet revenge, Aussie\u2019s rescue mission, F1 champ\u2019s interest<\/p>\n A bacteria known as campylobacter from a chicken dish sparked a brutal bout of gastro that saw Bastianini bed-ridden and lose three kilograms, meaning he watched the Sachsenring round from afar. In true MotoGP rider style, Bastianini was on track five days later in Brno for the Czech Republic Grand Prix\u2019s opening practice session; with limited energy and next-to-no preparation, his season rapidly began to turn around. <\/p>\n From 11th on the grid, \u2018The Beast\u2019 ripped his way through the pack to third in the Saturday sprint, and was on course to do likewise in the Grand Prix the next day before crashing out from fourth place on lap seven. A season-best fifth on the grid next time out in Austria led to a fifth-place Grand Prix finish. <\/p>\n In Hungary, he qualified fourth before a stuck ride-height device saw him crash into Honda\u2019s Johann Zarco on lap one of the sprint, while he had a scary first-lap fall in the Grand Prix the next day when he miraculously avoided being collected by the pursuing pack as he slid across one of the Balaton Park circuit\u2019s chicanes.<\/p>\n The speed was there before the results, and Bastianini belatedly delivered on his promise last weekend in Barcelona with a fifth-place sprint finish before his first Grand Prix podium with KTM 24 hours later in third place. <\/p>\n Bastianini was the only rider within sight of leading pair Alex and Marc Marquez at the flag<\/a> \u2013 he finished 5.5secs adrift, eight seconds ahead of fourth-placed Pedro Acosta \u2013 and made the move of the race when he passed fellow KTM rider Acosta into turn one with an outrageous late-braking manoeuvre that left his rear tyre completely off the ground, one that impressed new Tech3 KTM boss Guenther Steiner. <\/p>\n What\u2019s behind Bastianini\u2019s turnaround? Becoming more comfortable with his new bike is part of it \u2013 he lamented earlier this season that his seating position on the bike didn\u2019t feel right as KTM\u2019s off-season financial turmoil meant new, needed parts were slow to arrive \u2013 while he\u2019s learning to get his RC16 machine into a sweet spot that maximises his one almost supernatural strength. <\/p>\n Tyre conservation and blistering late-race pace are Bastianini\u2019s calling cards and the backbone of his seven MotoGP victories, the most recent of which came at this weekend\u2019s venue of Misano in the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix of 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n In the heart of a mid-season purple patch, Bastianini went with runaway series leaders Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia last September, kept up a pace that contributed to Bagnaia crashing out, and then ambushed Martin with a last-lap block pass that tiptoed the edge of acceptable physical contact<\/a> to win. <\/p>\n In the past four rounds, Bastianini has doubled his season points tally to 84, overtaken teammate Maverick Vinales to sit 12th in the standings, and comes to the track that\u2019s down the road from his hometown of Rimini with a record that suggests a repeat of that Catalunya podium or better could be in the offing. <\/p>\n In five previous MotoGP starts at Misano, Bastianini has a 100 per cent podium record, even managing a pair of third places in his 2021 rookie season that didn\u2019t hit great heights anywhere else on a third-string Ducati for the tiny Avintia satellite team, coming from outside the top 10 on the grid both times. <\/p>\n Bastianini is never going to be confused with a MotoGP metronome, and his 2025 situation must sting when he looks at what Marquez has done with the team he was ejected from before he landed at KTM. But as a one-off threat on a one-off weekend at a circuit where he\u2019s shone time and time again? Bastianini will surely be prominent this weekend, provided he considers his dinner options more carefully than usual. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s your Insider\u2019s Guide to round 15 of the MotoGP season, with the 27-lap San Marino Grand Prix set for 10pm AEST on Sunday after the 13-lap sprint race at 11pm Saturday AEST.<\/p>\n Bastianini comes to his beloved Misano off his first podium for KTM last Sunday in Barcelona. (AP Photo\/Joan Monfort)Source: AP<\/p>\n NEW YAMAHA BREAKS COVER AS MILLER STAYS TIGHT-LIPPED<\/p>\n Yamaha unveiled the V4 engine configuration version of its YZR-M1 machine in the Misano paddock on Thursday, with test rider Augusto Fernandez racing the bike this weekend as the Japanese manufacturer looks towards a full-time entry for the machine in 2026. <\/p>\n Since Suzuki withdrew from MotoGP at the end of 2022, Yamaha has been the only manufacturer to persist with an inline-four configuration bike. While good enough to propel Fabio Quartararo to the 2021 world championship, Yamaha has been left behind by Ducati in particular since, and hasn\u2019t won a Grand Prix since Quartararo\u2019s victory in Germany in July 2022.<\/p>\n Fernandez didn\u2019t make a media appearance on Thursday at Misano, while Yamaha\u2019s regular riders \u2013 Jack Miller among them \u2013 were barred from speaking about the V4 machine, which the Australian, Quartararo and the Frenchman\u2019s teammate Alex Rins all tried on Monday in Barcelona in a one-day private test after the Catalan Grand Prix. <\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: A Marquez wins in Barcelona \u2026 no, not that one \u2026 as Quartararo plays a starring role. And is Max Verstappen about to join Guenther Steiner as a MotoGP team owner? Listen to Pit Talk below.<\/p>\n While Miller did admit the marque\u2019s regular riders won\u2019t race the V4 version of the Yamaha this year as had been previously suggested \u2013 \u201cit ain\u2019t happening, there\u2019s no chance,\u201d he said \u2013 all three riders being retained for next year will ride the V4 again in the one-day Monday test that follows the San Marino GP. <\/p>\n In a press release announcing the V4\u2019s arrival, Yamaha said: \u201cThe sole purpose of the wildcard is data gathering, no bike development decisions will be based on this weekend\u2019s results.\u201d<\/p>\n Miller, meanwhile, will look for at least a repeat of his eighth-place finishes in both the sprint and Grand Prix at Misano a year ago, after last weekend\u2019s main race in Barcelona was ruined by being barged into a gravel trap<\/a> on the opening lap, falling to last place before recovering to 14th. <\/p>\n The 30-year-old has regularly been rapid at Misano \u2013 he has a pole position (2022) and fourth other front-row starts to his credit \u2013 but is yet to finish better than fifth (2021) in 12 world championship outings at the track. <\/p>\n \u201cI think we can have a strong one this weekend \u2026 Yamaha can perform well on a circuit without crazy-long straights,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe bike felt good last week \u2013 well, as good as a motorbike can feel around Barcelona with the grip conditions \u2013 but I\u2019m looking forward to see what we can extract out of the M1. <\/p>\n \u201cGrip conditions here are generally pretty high the last few years, and I think the layout plays a little bit more into our hands than some of the other circuits.\u201d<\/p>\n Yamaha’s new V4-engined version of its YZR-M1 machine broke cover in Misano on Thursday. (Yamaha Motor Racing Srl)Source: Supplied<\/p>\n BAGNAIA\u2019S MODEST AIMS AFTER BARCELONA \u2018NIGHTMARE\u2019<\/p>\n Two-time world champion Francesco Bagnaia is hoping a return to the track where he first began to make his MotoGP name could be a good omen in a season where he\u2019s been completely eclipsed by new teammate Marc Marquez as his own form has nosedived. <\/p>\n Bagnaia, the 2022 and 2023 champion for Ducati, won 11 Grands Prix a year ago before narrowly losing a chance at a rare championship three-peat at the 2024 season finale in Barcelona to Jorge Martin.<\/p>\n MORE MOTOGP NEWS<\/p>\n CATALUNYA RACE REPORT <\/a> Alex Marquez snaps big brother\u2019s blitz to keep championship alive<\/p>\n MILLER STAYS<\/a> The five reasons why Aussie\u2019s career hasn\u2019t reached the finish line \u2026 yet<\/p>\n In 30 starts across all sprints and Grands Prix this season, the 28-year-old has just one victory \u2013 inherited when Marquez crashed out of a comfortable lead in Austin in round three<\/a> \u2013 and arrives at Misano after his worst qualifying in over three years last weekend in Catalunya, when he started from 21st place on a 24-rider grid. <\/p>\n By contrast, Marquez, with 24 wins from 30 starts, begins the weekend on 487 championship points, within reach of the all-time single-season points record (Martin\u2019s 508 last year) since the advent of the sprint race era in 2023, and with six rounds remaining after Misano. <\/p>\n Bagnaia took his first MotoGP podium at Misano in 2020, won his second premier-class Grand Prix there a year later, and hasn\u2019t finished off the podium in a San Marino Grand Prix since. <\/p>\n On Thursday, the Italian said he would set his sights on a top-five finish on Sunday, a week after he finished a credible seventh from the back row of the grid in Barcelona. <\/p>\n \u201cRight now, I don\u2019t want to say that I\u2019m happy [and] I don\u2019t want to say that I\u2019m angry,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cThe last GP was a disaster, a nightmare for me, like the one in [Hungary]. I just need a normal race weekend, and a good result could be a fantastic moment right now.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that I\u2019m here to win races, I\u2019m here in the factory team because I can fight for wins. Right now, the potential is not there. I tried everything to adapt to this bike, but right now I\u2019m still struggling to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n Misano, with its high-grip asphalt, is the polar opposite to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya\u2019s slippery track layout, a seven-year-old surface that offers less traction than any track on the calendar. <\/p>\n Bagnaia hopes that can overcome his continued lack of front-end feeling with Ducati\u2019s GP25 machine over its predecessor, which saw him lead 259 race laps last year compared to just 18 in 15 rounds this season. <\/p>\n \u201cIt will be important for me to have more grip because last weekend was quite tricky,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cI was struggling a lot to find some support from the rear, so it\u2019s super useful. <\/p>\n \u201cI looked at every single direction possible and the only reason for my difficulty is that this bike has a different DNA that I\u2019m still not able to adapt to. Some bikes are better, some bikes are more difficult, but it depends on the way you can adapt to it. Unluckily with this bike, I\u2019m struggling more.\u201d<\/p>\n Bagnaia\u2019s strong record at Misano offers some comfort for a season that started slowly, and has only snowballed. (Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS \/ AFP)Source: AFP<\/p>\n MARQUEZ EYEING EARLY START TO 2026 ONCE TITLE SECURED<\/p>\n Marc Marquez having his 15-race winning streak ended by younger brother Alex Marquez in Barcelona last Sunday meant the championship will remain live until the Japanese Grand Prix from September 26-28, Marc Marquez coming to round 16 this weekend with a 182-point series lead.<\/p>\n Marquez will win his seventh premier-class title \u2013 and first since 2019 \u2013 should he leave Motegi in a fortnight with a 185-point advantage, but said on Thursday that he\u2019s not planning to change his approach at a track where he\u2019s won five times, including for Gresini Ducati last year<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cThe mindset is to still keep the same mentality, even with seven races to go I want to keep the same mentality because there\u2019s still a lot of races to finish the season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s true that maybe we can close the championship earlier, maybe. But we will try to keep the same mentality, because when we finish 2025, we start \u201926 already straight away, the next day.\u201d <\/p>\n