One KTM MotoGP star suffers “most difficult weekend of my career” in Qatar

Factory KTM rider Brad Binder branded the 2025 MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix “the most difficult weekend I’ve had in my career”.

After a difficult start to the 2025 season, there were expectations for KTM to have a more competitive showing in Qatar following Brad Binder’s run to a brace of podiums at Lusail last year.

While Tech3’s Maverick Vinales shocked with his stint leading the race, the rest of the KTM stable couldn’t get on terms with the Spaniard.

Binder especially had a miserable weekend, with the South African qualifying a lowly 18th before having what he described as “the worst race of my life” in the sprint as KTM chatter issues saw him struggle to keep his bike on track.

Coming away from the sprint 14th, Binder couldn’t find any improvement on his RC16 for the grand prix and was 14th at the chequered flag - 17.632 seconds off the win.

Binder was the last KTM on the road, though was promoted a place to 13th after Vinales’ post-race tyre pressure penalty dumped him from second to 14th.

“Definitely the most difficult MotoGP weekend I've had in my career so far,” Binder said.

“No matter what we tried, just I never felt comfortable.

“I felt like if I didn't have massive chatter, I was washing the front. And if I wasn't washing the front, I felt like I was spinning like hell.

“So, I really didn't feel good at all and I struggled a lot.

“We tried a lot of different things, but nothing really hit the points.

“For some reason from the first lap here, I just felt like I had absolutely no rear grip and we didn't really find anything to make it feel normal.

“It is what it is and looking forward to try again at Jerez.”

“Acceptable” Qatar GP for Pedro Acosta

A year on from his star debut in Qatar, where he ran in the podium battle early on, Pedro Acosta endured a similarly tough 2025 Lusail weekend to KTM team-mate Binder.

After a “horrendous” sprint race, Acosta says he was able to have “the same feeling” on the bike that he did in 2024 and came away with ninth on the road before being promoted to eighth.

“Much better, much better,” he said.

“It’s true that we need to put this like an ‘acceptable race’, not good because at the end I was starting quite far, then the first half I passed like 14th and was not easy to come back and have clean track and be fast.

“Completely the same feeling as last year - no chatter, nothing.

“For this, we show that when we don’t have a lot of problems, we can be fast. As I say, it’s an acceptable race; I’m happy.”