Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pedro Acosta rode to 9th position in the second Sprint of 2025 around the curves of the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit in northern Argentina. The Spaniard had qualified 5th in his first dash around the layout with the KTM RC16. The next rider in the classification on Saturday was Enea Bastianini in 14th as Brad Binder was punted out of the running on the first lap.
- 12-laps of hard-paced charging by Pedro Acosta under cloudy skies in Argentina to take 9th in the Sprint after launching from a second row start earned through Q2 earlier in the day
- Brad Binder moved into Q2 directly on Friday after positive modifications to the balance of his KTM RC16. He DNF-ed the Sprint after qualifying 11th
- Enea Bastianini classifies 14th on Saturday after pushing back from a Q1 berth of 21st on the grid. 20th after Q2, Maverick Viñales rides to 18th
- Alvarao Carpe and Jose Antonio Rueda follow-up their excellent performances in Thailand for the Moto3™ season opener by both qualifying on the second row as KTM RC4s fill eight of the top ten slots
Cooler climes for MotoGP at the second round of the season and the long switch from Asia to Argentina. The busy venue of Termas de Rio Hondo reappeared on the Grand Prix calendar after a one-year hiatus and the near-5km layout provided slick and low-grip conditions for the Practice runs on a cloudy Friday and then through the Qualification and Sprint program on Saturday.
The Red Bull KTM Tech3 pitbox was hectic with more set-up modifications for both Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini. The Spaniard and Italian were 20th and 21st after Q1. On Saturday afternoon the Sprint gave the field the exact half race distance of the Grand Prix on Sunday. The dash for points for the first nine positions involved Acosta who reached as high as 5th but then strived for optimal traction and passed the flag in 9th. Binder had contact with another rider in the third sector of the first lap and hit the ground, thankfully unharmed. Bastianini and Viñales pushed hard to cross the line in 14th and 18th respectively.
European audiences under CET time can watch the MotoGP Grand Prix from 19.00 on Sunday.
Pedro Acosta, 5th in qualification, 9th in the Sprint: “Difficult to understand the Sprint today. We need to work out how to put more traction and drive on the ground. We made a good start today and didn’t lose positions in the first laps. We are spinning too much but, well, we finished the race, took a point and can now look to the next one. We need to make a step.”
Enea Bastianini, 21st in qualification, 14th in the Sprint: “To be honest I was confident of being fast here but we struggled a bit yesterday and this morning in the qualifying. For the Sprint we did something more and usually I can do something more in the races! We are not at 100%. I need more feeling…and we need to work.”
Maverick Viñales, 20th in qualification, 18th in the Sprint: “It’s been a day of learning. Every session we made some changes to understand the bike more, but I don’t think it was the right way in the end because the differences were too big and I didn’t have any feeling. This is what happened in the Sprint. It took me too many laps to understand the set-up and there was no time. I think we need to recap the pre-season – and what we know so far – and try to ride the bike.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Our general performance here has been a bit better than in Thailand and practice yesterday was promising but we cannot be happy with the Sprint results. We need to analyze what happened to Pedro and that will be important to make decisions for Sunday. Unfortunately, Brad was pushed out by another rider and his race was over before it really began. We’ll keep working and keep pushing and see what more we can do tomorrow and to take from Termas.”
Results Qualifying MotoGP Grand Prix of Argentina
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati 1:36.917
2. Alex Marquez (ESP) Ducati +0.246
3. Johann Zarco (FRA) Honda +0.288
5. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.357
11. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.785
20. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 1:38.246 (Q1)
21. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 1:38.328 (Q1)
Results MotoGP Sprint Grand Prix of Argentina
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati 19:37.331
2. Alex Marquez (ESP) Ducati +0.903
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +3.859
9. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +11.229
14. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +18.442
18. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +21.287
DNF. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
KTM GP Academy
Deniz Öncü and Collin Veijer made their next steps in Moto2. The Red Bull KTM Ajo are both new to the demands of Termas with the intermediate class machinery. Öncü was 19th and Veijer 25th. Moto2 will get underway at 17.15 CET for 21 laps.
Results Qualifying Moto3 Grand Prix of Argentina
1. Matteo Bertelle (ITA) KTM 1:46.034
2. Angel Piqueras (ESP) KTM +0.232
3. Ryusei Yamanaka (JPN) KTM +0.296
5. Alvaro Carpe (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.611
6. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.628
9. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.862
10. Joel Esteban (ESP), Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.868
11. Dennis Foggia (ITA) CFMOTO Aspar Team +0.939
25. Jakub Rosenthaler (AUT) CFMOTO Aspar Team 1:49.579 (Q1)
Results Qualifying Moto2 Grand Prix of Argentina
1. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) 1:40.870
2. Jake Dixon (GBR) +0.200
3. Marcos Ramirez (ESP) +0.226
14. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team +0.536
19. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo 1:41.628 (Q1)
20. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team 1:41.734 (Q1)
25. Collin Veijer (NED) Red Bull KTM Ajo 1:42.204 (Q1)
