The MotoGP Red Bull KTM crews ended their important overseas development stage of 2025 with a season-best performance as Maverick Viñales led, fought for the win and passed the checkered flag as runner-up at the spectacular Lusail International Circuit. The 23rd Grand Prix on the Qatari asphalt ended a phase of testing and races that has included laps and competition in Malaysia, Thailand, Argentina and the USA and allows both the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 teams to now focus on the European leg of the campaign that will run until September.
- Maverick Viñales makes the podium in P2 in his fourth GP in orange but a tire pressure penalty gives him 14th an hour after the race
- Pedro Acosta finds his preferred setting for the KTM RC16 and rediscovers his strength on braking. The Spaniard takes a top ten result in 9th
- Enea Bastianini recovers well after starting from 20th on the grid and ends the 22 laps in 12th as Brad Binder launches from P18 on the grid and pushes back to 14th
- Moto3™ positivity for KTM GP Academy ace Jose Antonio Rueda who fights for victory again until fate intervenes with a DNF while Deniz Öncü scores 2nd and a career-best in Moto2™
MotoGP went under the spotlight for round four and the annual trip to the Lusail International Circuit for the sole night race on the Grand Prix slate. Promising qualifying potential saw Maverick Viñales and Pedro Acosta straight into Q2 and although both missed out on Sprint points Saturday evening as the KTM squads experimented with optimum feeling and tire data, there was more optimism for all four riders for Sunday’s contest.
The grid lights vanished but the big track lights stayed on for the 22-lap MotoGP spin and Viñales went center stage. Maverick hovered on the edge of the top four and took advantage of changing pace to conserve his tire potential. He hit the front midway and then maintained consistency to jet across the line with a very worthy P2: his first silverware of the season and his first in Red Bull orange. Sadly, a tire pressure sanction was then applied post-race and a 16 second penalty added, allocating Viñales with 14th. Acosta was trading track space mid-pack but then set his sights on further progression and reached the top seven at one stage. #37 eventually made it home in 9th, later adjusted to 8th.
Enea Bastianini’s customary Sunday charge produced P12 for the Italian (moved to P11). Two slots in front of Brad Binder who battled all race long but could not find the grip he needed to advance up the order. All the KTM RC16s grabbed points in Qatar.
2025 MotoGP now reverts to the central continent. The atmospheric Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto will host the Spanish Grand Prix in two weeks’ time and will be followed by the first one-day IRTA test.
Maverick Viñales, 14th and 18th in the championship standings: “At a certain point of the race I thought I could go for the victory and even pulled away a bit…but we have to be very happy with the progress and all the steps we are doing. We are working in a good way and we need to enjoy these moments. What we did today was unbelievable. We put the bike right there and we showed we had the speed: we had showed it in many practice sessions but we had to put it in the race. We must be happy and pleased and this is the start. I want to congratulate the team because they are working really calmly and with a lot of positive thoughts and that’s what we need.”
Pedro Acosta, 8th and 11th in the championship standings: “Much better. An acceptable race. I started far off and was 14th. It was not easy to come back but I had the same feeling as last year and no chatter. When we don’t have problems we can be very fast. Happy. It was very nice to ride the bike like this. We know Maverick is super-talented and he started 6th and all the small details count. He made a really nice race.”
Enea Bastianini, 11th and 13th in the championship standings: “It’s getting better. From Friday until now I was more competitive. It was quite difficult to overtake riders in the race because if you try to do something more then I lost the line so I had to do the move again! The pace was good but I was also spinning a lot with the rear. The front feeling though was one of the best so far. Nice race. Maverick did a great job today.”
Brad Binder, 13th and 12th in the championship standings: “Not much better today. It was tough. We tried to change some set-up in the race and it felt quite decent until about ten laps when I started to have massive understeer and I was spinning a lot on the tire. With five laps to go the rear was toasted. It was a really tricky weekend and my guys tried so many things to help me be comfortable. It was super-good to see Maverick do so well and it will be good for us to see what he did differently and how we can learn from it.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “It has been a hard start to the season but I have to say that in Austin and also in Qatar we have taken steps forward. It is important to take a positive result to keep the belief and the full motivation because in racing there are ups-and-downs. We saw this weekend that we are moving forward and I think when we are back in Europe we can do it again. Even though Saturday here was tough we kept our positive feelings for possible performance and today we proved that we are on the way with development, and that the riders are feeling better and more confident on the bike. The podium potential by Maverick is important for the whole KTM family and will give an extra boost to all those involved in the project. We will now push even harder. Unfortunately, we later had the tire pressure penalty but the rules are tight and this is part of racing. I still want to thank all the people for what they have done.”
Results MotoGP Grand Prix of Qatar
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati 41:29.186
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +4.535
3. Franco Morbidelli (ITA) Ducati +6.495
8. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +14.219
11. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +17.459
13. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +17.632
14. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +17.800
World Championship standings MotoGP
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati, 123 points
2. Alex Marquez (ESP) Ducati, 106
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati, 97
11. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 24
12. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 22
13. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 21
18. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 8
KTM GP Academy
Jose Antonio Rueda maintains his status as the reference of speed and potential in 2025 Moto3 but was luckless in Qatar. The KTM GP Academy star swept into action for the 16 lap Grand Prix from the front row of the grid for the second year in a row at Lusail. JAR was chasing his fourth consecutive trophy of the season and lunged to the peak of the leading group early for the 18-laps. The breakaway reduced to five protagonists but then Rueda encountered a technical issue late on the penultimate circulation and had to pull off the track.
Rookie teammate Alvaro Carpe started from the second row but had to serve a double Long Lap penalty for a misjudgment and slow riding in Q2 on Saturday. The teenager twisted the cable of the KTM RC4 to get back into the points-scoring positions and sealed 11th.
Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Jacob Roulstone gathered more race mileage in only his second start in 2025 and the Australian is getting stronger and stronger. After a low top twenty start, Roulstone probed for more time and track space and sliced his way to a creditable 14th. Valentin Perrone discovered the kinks and curves of Lusail for the first time and the Argentine rookie managed a point in 15th: his first in Grand Prix racing.
Red Bull KTM Ajo lead the Teams championship by 11 points and Jose Antonio is just one point from P1 in the Riders standings. KTM have a clear lead of 37 points in the Constructors table.
Red Bull KTM Ajo harbored hopes of a Moto2 season-best finish from Deniz Öncü after the Turk slipped into the top ten throughout the practice and qualification program. Öncü’s P7 grid slot hinted at his potential and he spent the formative phases of the race challenging for the lead and heading the pack for the first time in 2025. Deniz rounded out a strong weekend of work with P2 and a career-highest. Collin Veijer was also building up more knowledge and speed in Qatar. The Dutch rookie had to start from 20th but made progress to enter the points and acquire 13th by the end of the 18 laps.
Deniz Öncü: “A podium is always nice but honestly when [Aron] Canet passed me I was angry. I was making a good pace but was losing the right side of the tire. Anyway, it’s very nice to be P2 after three disastrous races. I have to show I am good; and also to everybody. It was a hard situation but now I am out of the hole. I had people behind to support me and I want to thank them.”
Results Moto3 Grand Prix of Qatar
1. Angel Piqueras (ESP), KTM 33:17.268
2. Taiyo Furusato (JPN), Honda +0.009
3. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN) KTM +0.042
11. Alvaro Carpe (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +12.165
14. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3 +12.847
15. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +20.102
DNF. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo
DNF. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team
DNF. Dennis Foggia (ITA) CFMOTO Aspar Team
World Championship standings Moto3
1. Angel Piqueras (ESP), KTM, 67 points
2. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo 66
3. Joel Kelso (AUS) KTM, 41
7. Alvaro Carpe (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 35
9. Dennis Foggia (ITA) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 24
15. Maximo Quiles (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 11
23. Jacob Roulstone (ESP), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 4
25. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 1
Results Moto2 Grand Prix of Qatar
1. Aron Canet (ESP) 35:30.185
2. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo +1.103
3. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) +1.286
4. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team +4.021
11. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Aspar Team +11.523
13. Collin Veijer (NED) Red Bull KTM Ajo +13.048
World Championship standings Moto2
1. Aron Canet (ESP), 71 points
2. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP), 61
3. Jake Dixon (GBR), 59
4. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 36
9. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 26
19. Collin Veijer (NED) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 9
21. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 7
