Temperatures rose and lap times dropped on the final day of testing in Thailand, Joan Mir put in a spectacular afternoon to seal sixth overall with Luca Marini in 14th as the pair collected the final pieces of the 2025 puzzle.

The MotoGP pre-season officially came to a close at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand as the second day of testing and an intense period ended with the setting of the sun. A midday pause would be the only break in action before 15:00 Local Time when both Honda HRC Castrol riders headed out on track for final long runs before the season begins. Matching the conditions of the race, Marini and Mir sought to better understand what could be awaiting them on March 02 when the lights go out at the Thai GP.

Joan Mir was able to improve his best time from Wednesday by 0.7s to end the test in sixth overall with a quickest lap of 1’29.399. This concludes a very positive pre-season for the double World Champion who has been able to continually put himself and the Honda RC213V inside the top ten in a number of conditions. Especially impressive was his final afternoon in Buriram, able to consistently lap in the 1’30s during a long run and put in a headline-grabbing second place finish in the final session. Mir leaves the two tests motivated and focused on the first race, determined to continue progressing and show Honda’s development.

Wrapping up his second pre-season in the factory HRC outfit, Luca Marini leaves Buriram with a best time of 1’29.783 and 14th place overall. Thursday saw the #10 continue to work on the setup of his machine, assessing a number of options and potential changes for the impending race weekend. This concludes a busy pair of tests for the Italian who got through an immense testing program with his team to define the base of the Honda RC213V for the first races of the new year. Marini feels that the conditions during testing obscured the overall picture of where teams are and is ready for the empirical truth of a race weekend.

The Honda HRC Castrol team will now head back to base for a few final adjustments before the season begins with the Thai GP, February 28 to March 02. What will follow is set to be the longest and most intense MotoGP World Championship campaign to date as Thailand leads to Argentina, America and Qatar before landing in Europe for the majority of the season.

Joan Mir  ³⁶

Sixth  1'29.399

“The pace that we showed today in our Sprint simulation and also in the hot lap is the best I have been able to do since I have been with Honda. Today we only did one proper time attack, and we couldn’t put everything together, while other riders did two time attacks – so this makes me happy because we still have some margin and we could have been even higher. I can’t really ask for much more. Having said that, there are still some things that we need to improve so I am looking forward to seeing what the engineers do over the opening races of the year. Now it’s time to push hard in training for a week before we return here to race.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 can now look to the first of 22 Grands Prix this season after completing two hot and hectic days of testing activity at the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand. As in Malaysia last week, Pedro Acosta was the pacesetter from the quartet on KTM RC16s and ended the second day 4th fastest.

The rush to the opening round of the campaign continued in earnest and in the roasting dry heat at Buriram, the circuit where the Thai Grand Prix will take place the first weekend of March. The two Red Bull KTM teams had travelled from Sepang, Malaysia to Bangkok for the official season launch last weekend and then headed northeast from the capital for the last phases of testing and homologation decisions for this term and for 2026.

The factory had to gather and filter all the information from the hundreds of laps at Sepang. The outings at Buriram meant more evaluation and then confirmation of settings and hardware choices with the Thai GP very much on the horizon.

Acosta’s best lap was less than 0.3 of a second from P1 as Maverick Viñales, Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini were all within one second of the top of the time sheets. Viñales placed 9th on combined times for the two days and 0.7 away. Binder was a fraction adrift in P12 and 0.8. Bastianini ranked P15 in just his third outing with the KTM RC16. The top 15 MotoGP riders were separated by one second at Buriram.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 will now have a brief respite to apply their final touches to the race machinery and confirm engine and aerodynamic mods for 2025. MotoGP will assemble in Buriram during the final week of February to get an exciting and anticipated year speeding into action.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 4th: “We need to be happy. Again, we tried many things and we are getting the pace quite fast. It’s been a good pre-season for me and also for KTM because all four riders are thinking the same way, and the bike has already improved from last year. We are faster and it is easier for me to go faster. We need to be calm and then see how we can start the season here.”

Maverick Viñales, Red Bull KTM Tech3, 9th: “I am still trying to understand entry and braking – which is one of the strong parts of the bike – because I’m not yet at the maximum. The exit of the corner is so nice and I have grip. Anyway, it’s coming! I feel comfortable but to get to the next point I just need a little bit more understanding and I’m missing little bits on a flying lap. I need to put the tricks of the bike into my style and it takes time. I’m much closer than I was in Sepang, so that is good.”

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 12th: “Two days here has gone quickly. We did some time attacks in the morning today and then a longer run in the afternoon and it was not too bad. Some small steps for sure, and better than when we were here last time. I feel that we are doing quite well and we need to put some more small pieces together for when we come back here in two weeks. It will be nice to have a full race weekend: I feel like we have done a lot of testing already!”

Enea Bastianini, Red Bull KTM Tech3, 15th: “My approach has to be different. The bike is different and I have to adapt to another style and also understand the difference between new and used tires. We didn’t get a Sprint simulation done today but we can just look ahead to the race now.”

Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Very busy weeks in Malaysia and Thailand but finally we have to be happy about all the development that has happened over the winter; for that a big thanks to all the engineers and the crew at the factory who have been working hard in this short time. The team at the tracks have been very focused and we have followed the program quite well. Here at Buriram we turned to testing a bit more for the season ahead and it has been promising. Testing is always testing but the measuring point then comes at the races. As I say constantly: let’s try to be better each day and that’s the way ahead.”

Positives continued for Honda HRC Castrol riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini in Sepang, Mir taking sixth and going a second faster than his Qualifying time from the 2024 Malaysian Grand Prix as Marini finished within a tenth of Marquez on day two.

Action resumed in Sepang for the second day of the test, the Malaysian heat increasing even further to add another challenge to proceedings. The Honda HRC Castrol team took it in their stride as they continued with their testing plan after an intense night of work for engineers and mechanics. Threats of rain would persist throughout the day with only the briefest of pauses in action. It all helped to produce another very positive day for the Honda RC213V riders.

Joan Mir’s improvements continued as he set a best lap of 1’57.791, placing him comfortably inside the top ten in sixth place and only half a second off the top spot. He had the potential to go faster, but a small hiccup coming out of the last corner limited his outright pace. Despite the disappoint of not having a final attempt at a fast lap, the #36 ends the day boosted by the work and speed he and the Honda HRC Castrol team have shown. A busy final day now awaits as he targets maintaining his position near the top.

On the other side of the garage, Luca Marini completed another 56 laps with a best time of 1’58.518. The second day of the test saw the Italian focus mostly on testing aerodynamic pieces to find the best combination of materials available. A big job, but with significant reward as Marini can now shift his attention to the rest of the testing plan on the final day. Even with his attentions not on a single fast alp, Marini’s time put him 15th on the time sheets and less than a tenth behind Marc Marquez.

Friday, February 07, will be the final day of the Sepang Test and the entirety of the Honda HRC Castrol team are determined to continue the positive progress shown over the opening two days.

The Repsol Honda HRC riders prepare to make their mark on Stavanger’s debut as a World Championship venue.

Repsol Honda HRC face the fifth round of the 2025 X-Trial World Championship season in Stavanger. It will be the first time that the Norwegian town hosts an indoor event, and Toni Bou and Gabriel Marcelli want to open their record at the DNB Arena with the best possible results.

Bou leads the general classification with 75 points. He has three wins out of the four rounds held so far, the most recent this past weekend in Barcelona. The Repsol Honda rider will seek to increase his lead as much as possible and claim a win for the fourth time this season.

Marcelli is in top form after taking third place in Barcelona. The Montesa Cota 4RT rider is heading into the second half of the season looking to improve on his results to date, and will aim to get into the fight for the win this weekend. He currently has two podiums in four races in 2025.

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Chase Sexton has climbed back to the top of the 2025 AMA Supercross Championship 450SX standings with a winning performance at Glendale’s State Farm Stadium to complete the first Triple Crown event of the season.

Equipped with the KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, Sexton became the first two-time winner of the year by securing victory tonight, using consistent 3-3-2 results across the trio of Main Events to stand on top of the premier class podium.

After qualifying second fastest, the 25-year-old worked his way forward in the first two races to finish with a pair of P3 results. A strong start in the final encounter saw Sexton take the early lead, before he ultimately took the checkered flag in second position to earn the overall.

In terms of the championship standings, Sexton now holds a two-point advantage as the Supercross series heads east to Tampa for Round 5 next weekend.

Chase Sexton: "The track was really gnarly and dry, but I had fun racing with the guys tonight. In the first two races, I really made it hard on myself with terrible starts, and that made my life difficult – especially with the short races. I finally got a start in the last final when I needed it and finished that one in second. I feel like I rode really well tonight apart from a mistake in the final race, but other than that, it was solid. I’m pumped to get the overall and to get the red plate back!"

Also in the 450SX Class, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing teammate Aaron Plessinger equaled his best finish of the season with ninth overall after three intense finals.

Plessinger recorded the 12th-fastest qualifying time, before finishing with 10-7-9 scores in the Triple Crown races to claim ninth overall, moving to P15 in the point standings as a result.

Aaron Plessinger: "Glendale was a step in the right direction. I was struggling in practice, but in qualifying I figured a little something out. I got a decent jump off the gate to the first race, but went off the track on the first lap and had to come back from last up to 10th. In the second final, I was up there battling with everyone for seventh, which was better. In the last one, I got a decent start, but I didn’t really capitalize on it and got shuffled back early on. Overall, I finished the night, but I’ve got some more work to do before Tampa and we'll come out swinging."

At his home race on the schedule, 250SX West red plate-holder Julien Beaumer finished fourth overall at State Farm Stadium and held onto the points lead entering a short break for the Western Region.

Onboard the KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION, the spectacular teenager qualified first and launched to the holeshot of the first two Triple Crown races. Errors on the opening lap of both races forced him to work his way forward to instrumental P4 and P7 results.

Race three saw Beaumer charge his way from a top-eight start to cross the finish line with a P2 result. When the three race results were combined, 'JuJu' left Glendale with P4 and continues to lead the championship by two points.

Julien Beaumer: "It was a tough night. I made too many mistakes at the start of the first two finals and found myself on the ground. I’m frustrated to say the least, but we salvaged a lot of points tonight and we still have the red plate. I’m happy to still have the series lead coming out of this one and to salvage as many points as I did."

Pre-season testing continues for the Honda HRC team at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, with Iker Lecuona reuniting with teammate Xavi Vierge after missing the Jerez test.

One week since its last important test at the Jerez Circuit in Spain, and the Honda HRC team has been hard at work at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, completing further testing with factory riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona. Lecuona was unable to take part in the Jerez tests due to injury, but was back on board this week, keen to get back on his CBR1000RR-R for the first time this year. Honda test rider Tetsuta Nagashima was again in attendance, supporting the factory squad during these important pre-season tests.

As was the case in Spain, the team was able to complete some decent runs on just one of the two scheduled days as, following a productive Tuesday, the track action on Wednesday was unfortunately disrupted by intermittent rain showers. On day one, Vierge essentially picked up where he left off with his team at Jerez last week, continuing with suspension tests, electronics, and general setup.

On the other side of the garage, Lecuona took things slowly on Tuesday, easing himself back into the rhythm of riding considering he is not yet back to full fitness. Iker was able to provide the Honda technicians with initial feedback, though the test was essentially an opportunity for him to ride his CBR1000RR-R for the first time in two months and assess his physical condition. Still experiencing some pain, Lecuona completed 25 laps on Tuesday and made just a couple of practice starts on Wednesday morning.

Attempting to make the most of Wednesday’s wet conditions, Vierge took to the track late in the morning but an innocuous crash through turn 1 unfortunately left him with a damaged bike, putting an end to his efforts after two exits. The rider was unhurt in the incident.

This was the final European test session for the team ahead of the start of the WorldSBK championship on 21-23 February. One last official test will take place at Phillip Island in Australia on 17-18 February, just a few days prior to the season-opener, to be staged at the same Australian track.

Toni Bou leads the standings after two consecutive victories. Gabriel Marcelli is fourth with 24 points.

This Sunday, the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona hosts the 47th edition of one of the most emblematic events on the X-Trial World Championship calendar. The Repsol Honda HRC riders arrive at the fourth round of the season ready to put on a show for the fans. Currently, Toni Bou heads the standings with 35 points, while teammate Gabriel Marcelli occupies fourth position.

It will be a very special weekend for Bou, who will be riding at his home event. The Montesa Cota 4RT rider has 17 wins in indoor competition in Barcelona, winning ever edition since 2020 along the way, and he will aim to continue this run of results -as well as the streak of two victories in the two most recent rounds this season.

Marcelli wants to improve the results he took at the last race held in Clermont-Ferrand, where he was fifth. Since his first participation in the Palau Sant Jordi in 2020, the Galician rider has achieved very good results in the Barcelona event with three podiums. He is still looking for his first victory in the indoor series.

Yamaha Motor Europe has presented its rider line-up for the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship as anticipation builds for the season opener at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Australia next month. 

An unchanged rider line-up for both the fresh look Pata Maxus Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team and GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team again sees four world champions set to take on the 2025 campaign aboard the Yamaha R1. 

2025 marks the tenth year of collaboration between Pata Snack, Yamaha Motor Europe and the Crescent Yamaha team on the WorldSBK project, which has seen a multitude of success over the past decade including victory in the 2021 rider, team and manufacturer championships. 

Six-time world champion Jonathan Rea returns for a second season with the official Yamaha team. with a year of learning under his belt with the R1 and the wider team, 37-year-old Rea is determined to make a step forward in 2025, looking to return to the sharp end and add to a sterling record that has already secured his place in the record books as the most successful rider in WorldSBK history. 

The Northern Irishman is once again joined in the team by 2020 Supersport world champion Andrea Locatelli, who will be looking to consolidate progress made in 2024 to search for further podium success. The 28-year-old secured five podium finishes in 2024, including coming tantalisingly close to a maiden WorldSBK victory in the season opener at Phillip Island. 

Lining up with GYTR GRT Yamaha for the third consecutive year, Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter are fired up and raring to go as the new campaign gets underway. Gardner, who won the Moto2 World Championship in 2021, achieved his maiden WorldSBK podium in 2024 and will be looking to fight for rostrums more consistently in 2025. After a 2024 season blighted by illness and injury, two-times Supersport World Champion Aegerter will be keen to return to the form that saw him fighting regularly in the top six in 2023. 

Ahead of the final European test in Portimão, the covers have come off the R1 machines Rea, Locatelli, Gardner and Aegerter will campaign in 2025. 

Pata Snack returns as the title sponsor of Yamaha’s official WorldSBK squad for a tenth consecutive season, with their distinctive logo not only featuring prominently on the bikes of the official team, but also the R1s campaigned by the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team.
Pata’s valued partnership with Yamaha extends throughout the classes with the Italian snack manufacturer also the title sponsor of the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate WorldSSP Supported Team.
Harris MAXUS, a brand of the leading commercial vehicle distribution company in the UK and Ireland, the Harris Group, joins the Official Yamaha WorldSBK Team as co-title partner for the 2025 and 2026 seasons. 

Elsewhere on the grid, a fifth world champion joins Yamaha’s ranks in WorldSBK for 2025 as the Yamaha MotoXRacing Team expand to a two-rider effort for the upcoming season, fielding 2014 Moto2 World Champion Esteve ‘Tito’ Rabat alongside Turkish young gun and former Yamaha BLU CRU Rider, Bahattin Sofuoğlu, who is set to make his WorldSBK debut in the coming season. 

Pata Maxus Yamaha are joined on track at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve by GYTR GRT Yamaha and Yamaha MotoxRacing for a final European pre-season test (27-29 January) before flying to Australia next month. Once ‘down under’, teams will undergo one final pre-season test at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit (17-18 February) before the season’s first races get underway between 21-23 February. 

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 have revealed the 2025 KTM RC16s for the manufacturer’s ninth year in the series and will enter the fray with its strongest line-up to-date.

Brad Binder (29, from Potchefstroom with 17 wins, 2 in MotoGP) and Pedro Acosta (20, from Murcia with 16 wins) will team-up for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Enea Bastianini (27, from Rimini with 13 wins, 7 in MotoGP) Maverick Viñales (30, from Roses with 26 wins, 10 in MotoGP) are the charges for Red Bull KTM Tech3 this year and all 22 rounds of the championship that will visit 18 countries.

Binder approaches his sixth campaign in MotoGP and has classified in the top six for the previous four seasons in a row and in the top five for the last two. 2025 will be his sixth as part of the Red Bull KTM crew in MotoGP. The South African will be joined by Pedro Acosta, the youngest rider on the grid, for his second term and after an impressive rookie year in 2024 where he finished 6th in the championship and with five podium results. Like Binder, Acosta has sailed through the Grand Prix ‘pyramid’ in Red Bull colors and through the KTM GP Academy at every step.

Bastianini and Viñales are new recruits for the family but bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and potential into the camp. Bastianini stood on the box nine times (twice from the top step) last season as he finished P4 in the standings. The Italian has grabbed a podium trophy at least once in all four of his years in the MotoGP class so far. Viñales has enormous pedigree and has toasted success in the premier class with three different manufacturers; the last coming at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas in 2024. Maverick was 7th best last year, meaning that KTM will assist four racers from the first seven places in the rankings going into the new contest. 

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: “It is crazy to think that this is my sixth season in MotoGP already. To be honest 2024 was the year where I probably learnt the most. Coming into 2025 I feel that it has made me a much better rider. My goal for the season is to take what I learnt and make that step forward to fight with the guys at the front. We are not far. We finished 2nd in the Constructors championship so we have one left in front of us. When I see how hard people are working at the factory and how much energy there is behind the scenes it is clear we are going to get there.”

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing: “For sure, 2024 was a good year, and we still have some goals that we keep in the pocket. I learned how to control a race, and how to adapt to MotoGP. It was a dream come true coming to the factory team after being in Moto3 and Moto2. Also having Brad as a teammate and helping develop the bike will be a very good point. It will help that he has a lot of experience in the class and I think we will make a good match together. The two main important points for 2025 will be the qualifying and then the first few laps of the race. Last year we saw that we had pace to fight for podiums or wins but we were struggling during qualifying. So, these two points will be the most important things to improve during this season.”

Honda Racing Corporation is thrilled to launch the Honda HRC Castrol team, set to compete in the 2025 MotoGP World Championship season.

This exciting new partnership builds on the rich history of Honda and Castrol delivering success together, over decades of motorcycle racing with numerous Championships and race wins.    Castrol brings a strong commitment to performance and innovation to the team along with a passion for motorcycle racing.

With a track record of 25 premier class Constructors’ World Championships, 21 premier class Riders’ World Championships and 313 premier class wins, Honda’s history and success in Grand Prix motorcycle racing is unmatched. Heading into the 2025 season, Honda remains committed to reclaiming its position at the forefront of the sport and this year is set to show Honda’s unwavering dedication to overcoming challenges and to rewarding the loyalty of their fans.

2025 marks the beginning of a new era for Honda in the MotoGP World Championship as Castrol joins to form a unique partnership. Under the new collaboration, Castrol, part of the bp group, becomes Honda HRC’s main sponsor and will provide lubricants, fuels and technical support – testing and developing motorbike lubricants in the most extreme race environment.

The Honda HRC Castrol team will feature the established pairing of double World Champion Joan Mir and six-time Grand Prix winner Luca Marini. Both riders have been cornerstones to recent developments of the Honda RC213V and will continue to work to return Honda to the top of the MotoGP World Championship.

Joan Mir starts his third season with Honda in MotoGP, a period exemplifying the determination that led the Spaniard to two World Championships before the age of 25. Now the rider with the most Honda experience on the grid, Mir has the opportunity to take yet another step in his personal development. With a two-year contract extension in hand, future prospects are bright for the #36 as both he and Honda affirm their commitment to the project.

Entering his second year as a Honda rider, Luca Marini showed tremendous capacity for growth and demonstrated advanced technical knowledge and feedback throughout his debut with the team in 2024. The 27-year-old enters 2025 with pieces in place to continue this trend and be a key player in Honda’s ongoing development after a steady upturn in results throughout the course of 2024.

Alongside a brand-new look livery, the latest evolution of the Honda RC213V continues to undergo a number of harder to spot changes. Developing the 2025 Honda RC213V has been the main focus of everyone involved over the winter, Honda HRC’s engineers continuing to work to take full advantage of the open engine development, test days and wildcards afforded to them.

The team will be supported by Stefan Bradl, Aleix Espargaro and Takaaki Nakagami as the role and scope of the Honda HRC Test Team continues to expand.

The Honda HRC Castrol team will make its on-track debut at the Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia for the first MotoGP pre-season test on February 5. March 2 will see the season start in earnest at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram as the Thai GP kicks off the 2025 MotoGP World Championship.