Top seven and three points for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing for the first day of competitive action at the Circuit of the Americas. The Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas brought MotoGP back to Texas for the twelfth time and Pedro Acosta rode to 7th in the Sprint as teammate Brad Binder was denied points in a five-way tussle on the last lap.
The long, winding 20-turn COTA facility has been the American home for MotoGP since 2013 and staged round three of the current campaign after recent events in Thailand and Argentina. For the two Red Bull KTM teams the trip to Austin presented another chance to dial-in the strengths of the 2025 KTM RC16 race package. Friday was problematic with a wet Free Practice and then subsequent Practice session that was held in drying conditions and mixed grip. Pedro Acosta and Maverick Viñales made the direct cut to Q2.
Saturday was hotter and brighter. The qualifying run in the morning saw Acosta excel and briefly hold a front row slot until belated reorganization of positions in the wake of a yellow flag. He rested with P4. Viñales was only half a second adrift in 10th. Red Bull KTM machinery occupied slots on the sixth row with Binder in P16 and Bastianini in P17 for the Sprint that afternoon and for the full Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Sprint lapped COTA ten times and brought the riders into the usual intense dispute for the opening contest of the GP. Acosta battled to the top five but ran wide twice during the first minutes and had to fight his way back to 7th for three points. Viñales kept his countryman company for the first laps but then had an issue with rear vibration and had to retire. Binder surged forward and made up a swell of positions before losing optimum tire grip and crossed the line in P12, one place in front of Bastianini; the Italian again improving his speed over his qualifying run.
MotoGP fans in Europe will need to wait until 20.00 (CET) on Sunday to catch the 20-lap Grand Prix.
Pedro Acosta, 4th in qualification, 7th in the Sprint: “A tough one. After a good qualifying we were having problems with the front tire but it’s something that a lot of riders are having. Let’s see tomorrow. It will be a long race and we’ll do the best we can. We have to make laps and get an understanding of what we need and what we can improve.”
Brad Binder, 16th in qualification, 12th in the Sprint: “Pretty difficult weekend here so far but the Sprint was definitely a bit better for us. I started to get more and more chatter so if we can try and make that go away for tomorrow then we can see what we’ll do. I want to make a clean start and have a clean race because today I was trying a bit too hard and this results in mistakes where you lose more than you are trying to gain. On the last lap I went deep into Turn 11 and the guys got me: if you’re not in 9th then it’s quite pointless anyway!”
Enea Bastianini, 17th in qualification, 13th in the Sprint: “Qualifying was so-so and it’s something we need to work on for the future. The race was better and this is the way for us at the moment. It was not easy because I had some vibration from the rear of the bike from the third or fourth lap. I was trying to catch the group in front of me but it was too tricky today. We need to improve for tomorrow and see if we can make a step.”
Maverick Viñales, 10th in qualification, DNF in the Sprint: “We made a change in Argentina and I feel good on the bike, and now that I’m faster we can understand even better where we can improve. I see clearly where the bike is strong and I’m positive and optimistic. I think I could have been top 6-7 in the Sprint and I tried the medium tire this morning and I really liked it. Unfortunately, we had a technical issue with rear vibration and I almost crashed twice. I thought it was better to bring the bike back in one piece, but I am riding well. We try again tomorrow.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Our work is never done but I have to say that the higher grip here this weekend is giving us some positive feelings and our performance in qualifying was quite good. The situation is not solving all the points that we need to improve but at least it is a bit clearer and a bit more promising for us. We cannot be happy with the results from the Sprint however and there were a couple of issues – like with Maverick – that we need to understand but in general we are making small steps and the information we are gathering is helping us. We’ll look for more progression in the race tomorrow.”
