2025 MotoGP came to an end under blue skies in Valencia and on a bright note for Red Bull KTM as Pedro Acosta challenged for another GP podium and sealed 4th place in the world. The final Grand Prix of the season took place in front of a capacity crowd in eastern Spain and saw three KTM RC16s classify in the top ten as Brad Binder rode to P8 and Enea Bastianini posted P10 after 27 laps.
For the 27th time since 1999, MotoGP rounded the looping 4km layout at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, a short distance west of Valencia. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 entered the fray for the last time this season with 5th, 15th, 20th and 21st positions on the grid and with hopes for maximum points and podium contention.
Pedro Acosta was fractions of a second from Pole Position and obtained his sixth Sprint podium of the season on Saturday. The 21-year-old made another decent start for the Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. He found track space in P5 then glided up to P4 and hunted the rear wheel of P3; making the move on lap 19. Pedro couldn’t quite hold on during an intense duel to the flag but his P4 meant a fifth consecutive top five ranking. The checkered flag brought Acosta to 307 points and P4 in the standings. He also added five podiums to his CV in 2025.
Brad Binder made his customary flight through to the top ten, and mixed up the order pushing for 6th: an impressive barrel from P15 on the grid. Enea Bastianini was also very proactive just a few positions behind Brad. The Italian fought with two other factory bikes and made sure of six points for P10 at the end while Binder crossed the line in 8th.
Maverick Viñales accumulated more mileage in the latest rehab phase for his left shoulder. #12 raced for 23 laps trying to hit his lines and markers at the Ricardo Tormo. Maverick made three top five GP results in 2025: his first season with the KTM RC16.
The 2025 figures reveal a total of six MotoGP podiums for the Red Bull KTM teams including three runner-up places as well as one fastest lap. The quest to boost these figures further for 2026 begins on Tuesday at Valencia with the first IRTA test ahead of the new campaign.
Pedro Acosta, 4th and 4th in the championship standings:“It could have been better but we gave what we could. We really had to manage the tires today and we missed grip at the start. For how we started the championship then to come back to 4th is not too bad and we were consistently in the top five but it was still not enough. I learned a lot as a rider…but I want more. We’ll cross our fingers for the Tuesday test and we’ll see what we have but then we have time until the test in Sepang next year.”
Brad Binder, 8th and 11th in the championship standings: “I wanted more from today. I had a good start again, not quite like yesterday, but I wanted to pick-off more guys but I lacked a bit more pace and the best I could manage today was 8th. A tough year. I feel like I can do a lot better than I did. Things did not gel this season, even if we did make some small improvements at the end. I’m looking forward to Tuesday.”
