KTM 2025 season round-up
- Silvia Cojocaru
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Written by Silvia Cojocaru, Edited by Dhara Dave
The 2025 season saw the Austrian manufacturer finish third in the Constructors’ Championship, just 46 points short of Aprilia, while their factory team finished fourth in the Teams’ Championship, managing to overhaul Aprilia Racing and be the highest-ranked non-Ducati-powered team.
Despite these decent results, the riders seemed mostly disappointed with their results, especially with a line-up filled with potential on both their teams.
Today, we are taking a deeper look at what led to KTM’s mixed results this past season and what we could expect from them in the upcoming year.
KTM Factory Team
Rising star Pedro Acosta cemented himself as a leader in the KTM group this season. He brought the team’s best results, but it was clear that the RC16 could not take the battle to the Ducati bikes in front, or even with the Aprilia at times.
Although Acosta admits that he improved himself as a rider in 2025, the Spaniard seemed to have had greater expectations for himself, even calling his sophomore campaign a “wasted year” in his life.
The Spaniard explained: “The season has been a bit of a shame; we haven’t fought for anything. It’s been like a wasted year in my life. That’s how it is.”
Still, he believes his day will come in the following year, stating: “I have to keep up this motivation, to be better. The moment will come sooner or later.”
Also hoping for a better future is his teammate, Brad Binder, who claimed that 2025 was the least satisfying season in his MotoGP career. The South African explained: “I’m super disappointed to finish the season where I did in the championship. I feel like we made some small improvements at the end, and I was getting a bit faster. However, still not competitive, so I still got some work to do.”
After the Valencia test, Binder seemed more positive, highlighting that with more time, things could really improve.
“We didn’t have time to really play too much. It was literally just bolting stuff on. So I feel like there’s a step there, and it’s going to be good once we have some more time on it,” he added.
KTM Tech3
KTM’s secondary team faced numerous challenges this past season, with their all-new line-up of Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales only finishing the year in ninth place.
The Italian struggled to adapt to the new bike, marking his worst MotoGP season since his debut in the series in 2021. This caused frustration for the seven-time Grand Prix winner.
“I think the adaptation to the bike this year has been very complicated for me, starting from the first test when I jumped.
“Last year, at the end of the season, I was fast in the sprints, and I was always on top. I knew how it would be, what the approach of the weekend was, but you have to be clear. This year, the situation was not clear to me,” explained the Italian.
Bastianini managed to bring Tech3’s only podium finish this season in Catalonia, but this was the only highlight of the year. The Valencia test didn’t convince the Italian either and he remains unsure of the team’s potential in the future, stating: “I still haven’t cleared up all my doubts about certain things.”
His teammate, Maverick Viñales, seemed to have an easier time adapting to the RC16 model and was on track to have a great opening season with his new team. However, he suffered a shoulder injury at the German Grand Prix, which caused him to miss several races and put an end to his promising start.
He was replaced by Pol Espargaró, who managed to finish in the top 10 in four out of the five races he started this season, scoring valuable points for the team.
Viñales returned for the closing race in Valencia, but he was unable to see the checkered flag due to persistent shoulder pain.
Reflecting on his difficult 2025 season, the Spaniard stated: “It's been a year where I've planted a lot of seeds, a year where I've grown a lot mentally. Of all the years I've been at MotoGP, it's been the year I've been mentally stronger. That gives me a lot for next year. I'm really looking forward to next year. I want to improve and keep growing.”
KTM Tech3 moves forward with Richard Coleman as their new team boss for 2026, as former Formula One team principal Guenther Steiner becomes the new team owner.
The Austrian manufacturer will be hoping to be more competitive in the 2026 season and for its riders to return to their winning form.
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