The Austrian Grand Prix proved to be another strong home event for Red Bull KTM as three KTM RC16s fill positions in the top seven: more than any other manufacturer. Pedro Acosta raced to 4th position today at a warm Red Bull Ring for the thirteenth round of the season and for the resumption of the 2025 calendar. Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder classified 5th and 7th.
Home ground and happy hunting. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 managed expectation both inside and outside the pit boxes at the Red Bull Ring: a consistent venue for MotoGP in Austria since 2016. Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini scored 3rd, 5th and 7th positions in the 14-lap Sprint on Saturday for a trio of points-scores with the KTM RC16. On Sunday and in dry but cloudy weather conditions in the Styrian region the racers were going after more plunder in the 28-lap Grand Prix.
Bastianini, starting from P5, Acosta from P7 and Binder from P11 on the grid were without Maverick Viñales who decided against competing because of his recently operated left shoulder.
Acosta made the best start and slid into podium contention. The 21-year-old set a race rhythm good enough for more silverware and was only denied P3 in the final five laps. Bastianini didn’t make the best start and had to dedicate the full potency of his tires and grip to catch positions. The Italian forced some impressive passes to rise to a decent 5th: his highest ranking of the season. Binder was also occupied with a clutch of mini-duels. At one point the South African was forced off track and out of the top five – even sustaining some bike damage in the incident - but he rode back with fiery form and achieved P7 by the flag, which equaled his second-best result of 2025 and marked his third top eight in a row.
MotoGP moves to new territory with the debut of Balaton Park and the first Hungarian Grand Prix since 1992 to occur next weekend.
Pedro Acosta, 4th and 7th in the championship standings:“We pushed until we destroyed the front tire! It’s never easy but we have to be happy. We’ve been in the top five all through the weekend. We made a big step with our race time and our potential here. We still have a lot in the pocket and we’re still learning. We wanted a podium in our home GP but we’ll keep pushing.”
Enea Bastianini, 5th and 14th in the championship standings: “I’m happy with the result; my best of the year. I made a mistake after two laps, in Turn 1, and I tried to comeback. I was strong and I did what I could. We still have some solutions to find for the future…but the improvements are clear in the last GPs. The top five was my target today. I’ve changed the bike a lot this year but we have a base set-up now and I haven’t changed anything for the past two races; only working on myself. The factory have done a good job and the new aerodynamic worked really well. We’ll continue to try being more competitive.”
Brad Binder, 7th and 11th in the championship standings: “Today could have been much better. I didn’t get a good start but made some moves and was up to 5th. I was then sent into the fans by another rider! I lost a few seconds there and one of my wings. It was tough from then on because it was hard here for the wheelie without the aero and the bike was wobbling more. It was a long race! I felt like I put up a good fight and did all I could. We got 7th today but the potential was there for more.”
