Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Red Bull KTM in 2025

Last year's rookie star Pedro Acosta is promoted to the factory KTM team for his second season in the premier class, where he will join Brad Binder in seeking race wins and a long-awaited RC16 title challenge.

Red Bull KTM’s MotoGP history

Having made its name in motocross and then the junior grand prix road racing classes, KTM made its MotoGP debut as a wild-card with Mika Kallio at the end of 2016, before starting its first official campaign with Pol Espargaro and Bradley Smith the following year.

Last on the grid in the Qatar Grand Prix, KTM soon began the show the ‘whatever it takes’ attitude that had brought success in every other discipline, albeit while refusing to ditch its familiar steel frame technology and in-house WP suspension.

Espargaro handed the team its first podium at a wet 2018 Valencia finale, where Smith signed off his KTM career with a new personal RC16 high of eighth.

The Englishman was replaced by big-money signing Johann Zarco, who had fought for victories as a satellite Yamaha rider and been persuaded by several factories.

KTM also made another key signing in the form of soon-to-retire Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa, who was snapped up by KTM for test riding duties from 2019.

The highly anticipated Zarco-KTM partnership soon began to unwind, with the Frenchman left openly frustrated by his lack of progress in the early stages of the season. But it was still a major shock when Zarco announced he wanted to prioritise enjoyment and had negotiated an early exit from his two-year deal.

The #5 intended to complete the 2019 season, but KTM decided the negativity needed to end ASAP and parked him in favour of test rider Mika Kallio for the final six rounds.

The unexpected Zarco exit saw Binder, who was set to be placed alongside Miguel Oliveira at the satellite Tech3 team, promoted to the factory squad alongside Espargaro for 2020.

Oliveira made his displeasure at being overlooked clear, but any doubts were silenced when Binder rode to KTM’s first MotoGP victory in only his third premier-class grand prix.

Espargaro, already confirmed as joining Repsol Honda for 2021, set a new high of fifth in the world championship with five podiums but had to watch victory glory go to not only Binder but also Tech3’s Oliveira.

Oliveira stepped up alongside Binder for 2021, with each taking one race victory  apiece but struggling for consistency.

Never afraid to make big decisions, KTM decided a major restructuring was now needed to take the project to the next level.

That included replacing team manager Mike Leitner, part of the RC16 project from the start, with Pramac Ducati team manager Francesco Guidotti.

Guidotti’s arrival followed that of Gigi Dall’Igna’s second-in-command at Ducati Corse, Fabiano Sterlacchini. More key personnel would make the red-to-orange move over the following years.

But the off-track changes, centred around supplying the race team with proven parts rather than distracting them with testing duties on grand prix weekends, took time to implement and 2022 again saw big swings in results from one race to the next.

The signing of Jack Miller (plus Ducati crew chiefs Cristian Pupulin and Alberto Girabola) for 2023 came at Oliveira’s expense. KTM attempted to keep its five-time MotoGP winner on an RC16 with an offer at the rebranded GASGAS Tech3 team, to no avail.

While Binder set new highs for KTM in 2023, the South African had slipped out of the title running by the closing stages and, while he took two wins in the new Sprint races, his grand prix drought from Austria 2021 continued.

Miller made a strong early impact, peaking with Sprint and GP podiums at round four in Spain, but then seemed to lose his way. Nonetheless, a mistake by Binder put Miller into what looked like a safe lead at the Valencia finale… only to be caught out at the same corner several laps later.

2023 also saw two impressive wild-card appearances for Pedrosa, who fought for the podium in both Jerez and Misano, the second of which marked the debut of KTM’s surprise new carbon fibre chassis.

Binder and Miller then elected to finish the season on the composite frame, which was originally intended to debut in 2024.

After a best-yet fourth in the MotoGP riders’ standings and second only to Ducati in the constructors’, KTM headed into the 2024 season with its sights set firmly on a title challenge. But the reality was far more sobering. 

The season began with high hopes as Binder took a pair of second places in Qatar. But it would be KTM’s highest-scoring weekend of the year and the only time an ‘orange’ rider was seen on a podium, with wild-card Dani Pedrosa’s third at the damp Jerez Sprint the product of a post-race penalty.

KTM thus failed to win a race (Sprint or Grand Prix) for the first time since 2019 and were in danger of losing best-of-the-rest status behind Ducati to Aprilia before Binder restored some pride by snatching fifth overall (behind the Ducatis) from future team-mate Acosta in the Barcelona finale.

Rising star Acosta was confirmed as taking over Miller's seat for 2025 as early as Mugello. The Australian managed only three top-ten GP finishes on his final KTM season as he battled chronic chatter and slipped behind Binder and Acosta in the hierarchy for new parts.

Despite failing to win, KTM snared factory riders Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) for the satellite Tech3 team, and retained Dani Pedrosa and Pol Espargaro as superstar test riders, giving the Austrian manufacturer its most competitive MotoGP line-up for 2025.

But shortly after Acosta, Bastianini and Vinales debuted with their 2025 teams at the Barcelona test, the Pierer Mobility Group - owners of the KTM, GASGAS and Husqvarna brands - was revealed to be in major financial trouble.

Some reports suggested the cost-cutting measures would include a withdrawal from grand prix, but KTM insisted they will race as planned in 2025. However, the long-term future of the RC16 project remained in doubt as the teams prepared to start pre-season testing.