The kinks and speed of TT Circuit Assen brought MotoGP up to pace for the second weekend in a row and for round ten of the current campaign. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pedro Acosta and Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Maverick Viñales rushed to 4th and 5th under clear skies and in warm temperatures and watched by a 109,500 Sunday crowd, as the popular and historic venue celebrated a centennial of motorcycle racing. Jose Antonio Rueda won Moto3™ with the KTM RC4 for the sixth time from ten outings.
From Italy to the Netherlands in a week and one prestigious Grand Prix stage to another. MotoGP blasted around the flat 18 corners of the TT Circuit Assen and the only course that has been present in all-bar-one of the 76 seasons of FIM world championship racing. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 squads started the 26-lap GP from the third (Pedro Acosta in P9), fourth (Maverick Viñales in P10), sixth (Brad Binder in P16) and seventh (Enea Bastianini in P20) rows of the grid.
Acosta made the livelier getaway and was straight into podium reckoning. Pedro kept his pace until the final laps of the chase for his first trophy of 2025. The Spaniard lost the tow towards the end but was just 3.5 seconds from P3. Viñales could see Acosta ahead and was circulating in 6th. He managed to pass Franco Morbidelli but then had too much ground to make up. When optimum grip from his rear tire evaporated in the closing stages, Maverick guided the #12 machine to P5. Bastianini was encouraged by both his start and his race rhythm. The Italian pushed into the top ten and passed brandmate Binder to make sure of 9th and seven points. Brad’s effort, despite some front-end instability, was at least consistent and delivered P11.
Acosta is the highest KTM placed rider in the championship with 98 points. MotoGP will break for a week before the next double-header takes the series to Germany (Sachsenring) and then Czech Republic (Brno).
Maverick Viñales, 5th and 10th in the championship standings: “I’m quite happy. I still have a lot to learn from the bike. From lap 10 to 16-17 I had a good rhythm and could ride pretty fast and the guys in front were not getting away but then I had a massive drop on the rear and couldn’t push any more. I tried! But it was not possible. Today was one of those days where I had to accept the situation and just arrive home for the last five laps. We are positive and we know we have good potential. We just need to make life easier for ourselves and a better qualifying will help.”
Enea Bastianini, 9th and 15th in the championship standings: “One of the better results but also for my feeling on the bike. I still have the same problem: when I am following and in the slipstream I can turn the bike and make the changes of direction necessary to have the same pace as the other KTMs, but when I am alone I cannot push in the same area. It’s like the bike is much heavier and that’s a problem at a track like this one. We need to understand this better.”
Brad Binder, 11th and 13th in the championship standings: “I didn’t have much pace all weekend. I could do the same time every lap but it was too slow. I missed the speed here. It’s been tough and the only positive is that I finished both races…but that doesn’t mean much to me! We need to go home and analyze where I was losing the time. In general, it is nothing too serious we just need a bit more speed.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “We had a very positive day today here in Assen. Top five results for both Pedro and Maverick is something we have produced in other races but it was well deserved here for the work that was made. Overall, we followed our positive trend but we missed the Quali and that is so important in MotoGP now: if you are not starting on the first two rows then it’s a tough fight for podium places. Anyway, we understand what we need to improve and we’re working on it, like the turning of the bike. For this track there were some areas where we were struggling a little but we know on Sundays, with harder tires, we are closer and closer to the top. Pedro’s race was really strong and he was attacking hard from the first laps, which was the key. The podium was not far but we need to look into the tire drop. For Maverick it was a little of the opposite: the first laps were not so strong but then he was really coming up fast. We need to be happy about Enea’s top ten result and the P11 for Brad after a challenging weekend shows we are near the right direction for both.”
Results MotoGP Grand Prix of The Netherlands
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati 41:14.072
2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Aprilia +0.635
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati +2.666
4. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +6.084
5. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +10.124
9. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +23.687
11. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +24.251
World Championship standings MotoGP
1. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati, 307 points
2. Alex Marquez (ESP) Ducati, 239
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati, 181
8. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 98
10. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 69
13. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 47
15. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 42
KTM GP Academy
The Moto3 Grand Prix last for 20 laps and with the usual melee of position-swapping, slipstreaming and pacing within the pack. Jose Antonio Rueda started from Pole Position with Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Alvaro Carpe alongside on the grid. 19-year-old Rueda slotted near the sharp end of the large group of riders. At one stage 1st-14th was split by less than two seconds. Carpe was baulked in the first phase and had to recover from P18 to P4. Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Valentin Perrone was also in the mix and was ideally placed into the final circulation when the race was red flagged. Rueda confirmed his sixth victory of the season (in his 50th GP appearance) and Perrone sealed 3rd place for his first podium finish in his rookie term, and the first trophy of 2025 for the team. Jacob Roulstone was in the second group and made sure of 12th.
The championship standings make positive reading for KTM. Rueda had a 56-point gap before travelling to the Netherlands and departed Assen with a cushion of 69. Carpe is now 2nd in the list and Red Bull KTM Ajo are P1 in the Teams contest by 128 points. KTM lead the Constructors rankings.
Jose Antonio Rueda: “The race was incredible. We managed as best as possible to achieve this sixth victory. I want to say thanks to my family for all the support and for the team for all their work. Let’s keep going like this! We’ll enjoy the rest of the day
Valentin Perrone: “I’m really happy for my team, we have been working a lot. I want to thank Hervé [Poncharal] for taking me out of the [Red Bull MotoGP] Rookies and the Talent [cups]. He believed in me so this is for him and my family. The race was crazy, with a lot of overtakes. I saw the group was eighteen riders and I knew I needed to be at the front if I wanted the podium. So, I stated to push more. Finally P3 is a fantastic result.”
Deniz Öncü led the charge for Red Bull KTM Ajo in Moto2. The Grand Prix winning Turk set off from 10th on the grid for the second race of the day and with hopes of vying for the podium. He held a clear 3rd for the first half of the duration but was then caught by a few pursuers and tumbled off the bike into the GT chicane while trying to keep his rostrum hopes alive. Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Collin Veijer put in a stronger showing compared to the Italian round last week, which was his first race back from injury. The Dutch rookie harnessed the benefits of a large local support to throttle his way through the 22 laps and came away with 14th and two points.
Results Moto3 Grand Prix of The Netherlands
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo 32:12.319
2. David Muñoz (ESP), KTM +0.144
3. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.245
4. Alvaro Carpe (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +1.087
8. Dennis Foggia (ITA) CFMOTO Aspar Team +5.034
12. Jacob Roulstone (AUS), Red Bull KTM Tech3 +8.555
15. Maximo Quiles (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team +24.394
World Championship standings Moto3
1. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo 187 points
2. Alvaro Carpe (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 118
3. Angel Piqueras (ESP), KTM, 117
5. Maximo Quiles (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 86
12. Dennis Foggia (ITA) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 57
13. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 51
18. Jacob Roulstone (ESP), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 24
Results Moto2 Grand Prix of The Netherlands
1. Diogo Moreira (BRA) 35:24.852
2. Aron Canet (ESP) +0.056
3. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) +1.783
10. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team +11.720
14. Collin Veijer (NED) Red Bull KTM Ajo +23.656
DNF. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo
DNF. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Aspar Team
World Championship standings Moto2
1. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP), 159 points
2. Aron Canet (ESP), 154
3. Diogo Moreira (BRA), 128
8. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 72
14. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 43
16. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 36
20. Collin Veijer (NED) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 13