Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, Red Bull KTM Tech3 and the factory’s test crew used the excellent weather and diverse challenge of MotorLand Aragon to grab more data, information and ideas for refinement of the KTM RC16 today. The second one-day official test of the MotoGP season took place right after Sunday’s Aragon Grand Prix and Maverick Viñales, was fastest by the end of the session with the fastest ever two-wheeled lap of the circuit KTM’s MotoGP push has been making progress in terms of overall competitiveness through the eight Grands Prix so far and the first test at the Circuit de Jerez at the end of April. In the wake of Pedro Acosta’s 4th place finish at MotorLand on Sunday and with three of the four KTM RC16s making it directly through to Q2 as well as showing top five pace through the 23-lap GP race, the riders took to the Spanish asphalt again today. Acosta, Brad Binder, Maverick Viñales, Enea Bastianini and Pol Espargaro combined circulated the 5km layout almost 300 times as they worked on chassis configurations, aerodynamic proposals and more theories for the future direction of the race bikes. The fastest lap-times from the long schedule of work placed Viñales in P1 with an Aragon milestone. The Spaniard hit the reference on his penultimate effort. Acosta was just three tenths of a second adrift and sat 5th on the day with Binder in P11 and Bastianini P15. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing test team will be running more laps at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for two days in a private session this week while MotoGP will gather in the paddock of Mugello for the Grand Prix of Italy and round nine next week. Maverick Viñales, Red Bull KTM Tech3, 1st: “Positive day and we worked very hard for improving the bike in terms of turning. We achieved this, and it’s a ‘plus’ for the next races. Now we need to understand if we will homologate this next aero package: I feel good with it but also with my standard one. We want to check and see. It was important today to keep at the same level and to keep riding and improving. I’m really happy with all the teamwork.” Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 5th: “Happy. Without trying any time attack we were quite faster than in qualifying last weekend. We touched a lot of the aerodynamic areas that we thought could help but it can be quite hard to understand this in just one day or with a few laps. Let’s see if we can develop more this week and the test team can also help. We have to be happy because the bike made a step.” Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 11th: “Today we ran though many aero configurations and it took time to get a sense of them all. We had some solutions that helped turning, some for more grip…each item changed certain areas. There was a lot between all four of us and now the test teams will go through it and will try to build each rider a package. Such a busy day throwing many things onto the bike so now we need that full check for the best options.” Enea Bastianini, Red Bull KTM Tech3, 15th: “Many different aero options. This morning, I worked a lot with this, and I was satisfied because it helped us for wheelie, acceleration and a bit for entry of the corners. We tried something for the set-up in the afternoon but nothing really worked when I put the soft tire. Some things were simple, like the fairing, but we need more time with other things. Maverick was very fast today and I think we can be competitive like him but I have the same issue: with the old tire I can push and not with a new one.” Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “For sure a busy day and many things to try but our test team is also working this week in Barcelona so we were able to experiment and make some priorities but then also file some others for later work. Quite a lot of aero, different downforce packages with a view to the second homologation phase, and suspension and, so far, some promising things. We need to analyze before making decisions for the future and we’ll close some short-term solutions as soon as we can.” Sebastian Risse, KTM Technical Director MotoGP: “The end of another intense test and after the Grand Prix here in Aragon it’s clear we wanted to make another step and get the bike better quite soon. We were working mainly on the aero side and also some chassis components. We really tried to get a broad picture of many items through all four MotoGP riders and we achieved it. We found some positives. Now we need to analyze the data and see how we can put it together in the fastest possible time frame.” Aragon official test final times 1. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 1:45.694 2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Aprilia +0.006 3. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati +0.132 5. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.335 11. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.951 15. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +1.411 21. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +2.340
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Aaron Plessinger raced to a hard-fought third-place finish in Round 3 of the AMA Pro Motocross Championship at the Thunder Valley National, earning his second-consecutive 450MX podium result. Colorado began with Plessinger posting the second fastest qualifying time, before powering his KTM 450 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to the front group of Moto 1 out of the gates. After briefly making a late pass for the race lead, ‘The Cowboy’ would reach the checkered flag with a convincing P2 result. Another strong start in Moto 2 saw Plessinger in the mix with the front-runners once again, navigating ultra-technical track conditions to claim fifth position, and third overall for the weekend. He's also currently positioned third in the 450MX standings. Aaron Plessinger: “That first moto was a lot of fun and I was really amped! I didn’t feel fatigued after that one, and then I made a small bike change going into the second moto, which I should have just left alone. That was on me, and I struggled that second moto, but it was just a good day. I had some really good lines in the first one, but being in the battle and making passes on those guys is all I can really ask for. Back to work this week – we’ll come back next weekend looking for that elusive win.” Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Tom Vialle posted a consistent performance at the third round of 250MX competition, racing his KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION to sixth position in the opening moto. A P5 ride in Moto 2 on a deteriorating track was enough for fourth overall, and an important haul of championship points. Tom Vialle: "I ended up with fourth overall today, which wasn't ideal because I just wasn’t feeling it on the track. I was running third in each of the motos, then ended sixth in the first one after a small crash, followed by P5 in Moto 2. I just didn’t have the feel that I needed all day, so we’ll keep working for next weekend in High Point and make some improvements.” 250MX teammate Julien Beaumer experienced a challenging day out at Thunder Valley onboard his KTM 250 SX-F FACTORY EDITION. He showcased his speed throughout the races, however, a fall during each outing kept him out of front-running contention. A 17th-place score overall via 16-14 results has him now sitting P7 in the standings. Julien Beaumer: “Not a good day at Thunder Valley. I crashed both motos and that pretty much sums up my weekend. The result doesn’t show how I am riding at the moment, so we’ll regroup and come out swinging at High Point.” Next Race: June 14 – High Point, Pennsylvania Results 450MX Class – Thunder Valley National 1. Jett Lawrence (Honda) 2. Eli Tomac (Yamaha) 3. Aaron Plessinger (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 7. RJ Hampshire (Husqvarna) 8. Malcolm Stewart (Husqvarna) Standings 450MX Class 2025 after 3 of 11 rounds 1. Jett Lawrence, 145 points 2. Eli Tomac, 120 3. Aaron Plessinger, 118 6. RJ Hampshire, 87 11. Malcolm Stewart, 60 Results 250MX Class – Thunder Valley National 1. Chance Hymas (Honda) 2. Haiden Deegan (Yamaha) 3. Levi Kitchen (Kawasaki) 4. Tom Vialle (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 6. Casey Cochran (GASGAS) 14. Ryder DiFrancesco (GASGAS) 17. Julien Beaumer (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) Standings 250MX Class 2025 after 3 of 11 rounds 1. Haiden Deegan, 144 points 2. Jo Shimoda, 119 3. Chance Hymas, 95 5. Tom Vialle, 85 7. Julien Beaumer, 81 10. Casey Cochran, 64 17. Ryder DiFrancesco, 43
Pedro Acosta scorched to a P4 finish at a steaming MotorLand Aragon today for the eighth round of 2025 MotoGP. The Spaniard blazed around the slick asphalt in eastern Spain for the Grand Prix of Aragon and for his second top five result of the season. The event was also notable for Alvaro Carpe claiming 3rd in the Moto3™ outing and Deniz Öncü’s amazing Moto2 success.
