Less than 24 hours after the San Marino and the Rimini Riviera Grand Prix closed the sixteenth round of 2025 MotoGP, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 were back laying rubber at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the third one-day IRTA test of the year.

Sunshine and decent summer temperatures continued to beat down on the Italian asphalt near Riccione. The 91,000 Sunday crowds were gone but the speed remained. The Red Bull KTM race crews counted on the presence of MotoGP Hall of Famer Dani Pedrosa for extra input as the Grand Prix project worked on solutions and fixes for Misano and for the six Grands Prix still to come this season.

The high-grip nature of the tarmac in Misano and some ideas for modifications that couldn’t be tried in the hectic nature of a GP schedule were on the job list. Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini as well as Maverick Viñales turned almost 400 laps as they also tried chassis configurations and other details. Acosta ended the day with the fastest lap-time; three tenths of a second from the lap record. Viñales, Binder and Bastianini registered the 10th, 11th and 13th quickest efforts respectively during their track stints.

The teams ended the day by packing freight in preparation for the Japanese Grand Prix in less than two weeks’ time. From Motegi the championship will travel to Mandalika in Indonesia, then to Phillip Island in Australia and onwards to Sepang in Malaysia to complete the overseas swing by the end of October.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 1st: “Quite nice to come back after yesterday to show some speed. I wanted to improve my best set-up to be faster in the fast corners because we will have these sectors in Japan, Indonesia and Phillip Island and T2 in Malaysia. It was interesting how we were able to make improvements. We still have many good opportunities left this season and we will have time after Valencia to think about next year. A good day.” 

Maverick Viñales, Red Bull KTM Tech3, 10th: “Today was about making laps and putting stress on the shoulder, to see how it will feel in the next days. I still cannot push the bike 100% so there was not much sense to try things, even if the track conditions feel fantastic. Now I need to train as much as I can, lift weights and build muscle to be more ready for Japan.”

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 11th: “Today was pretty solid. We tried some different frames and swingarms and found some potential for sure, and managed to make the bike more stable especially in the fast stuff. The feeling was quite a bit better even if I didn’t quite get the speed in T3. I think we made a pretty good step. I’m not sure on the timeline for everything but I think there is something we can try in Japan. Let’s see.”

Plenty of work to do for Luca Marini at the post-San Marino GP Test, Joan Mir sidelined in order to continue his recovery.

A day of long runs and hard work met Luca Marini on Monday at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, the #10 quickly getting down to business and running for the entirety of the day. With 71 laps in hand at the conclusion of the day at 18:00 Local Time, Marini’s best time of 1’30.983 saw him end in 11th on the combined times. A positive but busy test for the #10, continuing to build on the recent running after the Barcelona Grand Prix. The day consisted of work for the longer-term future, while also dedicating some time to the closing races of the year.

Joan Mir did not participate in the test as he continued to focus on being fully fit for the Japanese GP and the intense end of the 2025 campaign.

Takaaki Nakagami completed a handful of laps in the afternoon with a best time of 1’31.994.

Brad Binder won considerable ground to finish 10th in the sixteenth round of 2025 MotoGP at Misano and bank points for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. The South African started P16 on the grid to roar past the checkered flag in the top ten and bounced back from his DNF in the Saturday Sprint. The KTM GP Academy were protagonists in a sizzling Moto3 grand prix as Jose Antonio Rueda triumphed again with a last corner, last gasp lunge for P1.

The high grip potential of Misano created fresh set-up demands for the Red Bull KTM quartet through Friday and Saturday and led to qualifying positions of P9 for Pedro Acosta, P16 for Brad Binder, P17 for Maverick Viñales and P20 for Enea Bastianini. Acosta secured a top five result in the Saturday Sprint as Bastianini sliced through half of the field to finish 10th at his home Grand Prix.

There was renewed belief for the 27 laps on Sunday and the harder tire options necessary for the full race distance. Overnight rainfall meant the track was initially cooler and with damp patches in the morning but the conditions were warm and consistent by mid-afternoon. Acosta made an effective getaway from the grid but Pedro’s bid for podium contention expired on lap eight with a technical issue while Maverick fell in the second sector on lap five. Enea’s search for a top nine result ended at Turn 14 at mid-distance. Binder gassed his way past rivals and dealt with a lack of optimal traction to grab 10th.

Acosta is 5th in the MotoGP standings. Binder holds 11th followed by Bastianini in 13th and Viñales in 15th. MotoGP now has a one-day IRTA test at Misano on Monday and then commences a Pan-Asia trek with races in Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia in the next five weeks. First-up is the trip to the Mobility Resort Motegi from September 26-28.

Brad Binder, 10th and 11th in the championship standings: “A really difficult race. It was hard to push-on from the beginning and there was a big difference between front and rear grip. Then there was a lot of chatter from 12 laps onwards and it was hard to stay up. Really tricky, and we didn’t expect that. In the end we could put together the weekend that we planned. It’s a good thing that we have a test here tomorrow so we can play around a little bit to understand the right way to go for the future.”

The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team secured the fourth place with Franco Morbidelli, while Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fifth in the San Marino and the Rimini Riviera GP. 

The home atmosphere is always something special, and the Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team tackled the San Marino and the Rimini Riviera GP with great energy, ending very close to the podium in front of the home crowd. Franco Morbidelli crossed the line in fourth place in Sunday’s race, while Fabio Di Giannantonio followed in fifth.

Morbidelli got off to a strong start from the second row, immediately placing himself in the battle for the podium. Franco showed a solid pace over the 27 laps, finishing his home race in fourth position. The #21 remains sixth in the World Standings with 180 points.

Di Giannantonio, who started from the third row, also made a great start and was battling for the top positions from the first turns. Fabio finished the Misano race in fifth place and now sits seventh in the World Standings with 179 points.

The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team will be back on track tomorrow for an official MotoGP test day at Misano, before heading to Motegi in two weeks’ time for the Japanese Grand Prix, which will kick off the Asian tour from September 26th to 28th.

History was made in Magny-Cours on Sunday as Yamaha were crowned Manufacturers’ Champions in the FIM Supersport World Championship for a record 11th time, with the all-new R9 storming to the title in its debut season with three rounds remaining. 

It has been a dream first season for the new, three-cylinder ‘Next Generation’ World Supersport R9, which this year replaced iconic R6 that propelled Yamaha to 10 manufacturers’ titles. 

Having won the last ever race with the R6 in Jerez at the end of the 2024 season, Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) opened the R9’s account with a stunning victory in the Phillip Island season opener back in February, kick-starting what has proved to be a remarkable year for Yamaha in the intermediate class. 

Courtesy of Manzi and title rival Can Öncü (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing), the R9 has taken an incredible 14 victories from the first 18 races. As well as this impressive number of victories, the R9 has secured 30 podium finishes in the hands of Manzi, Öncü, GMT-94 Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias a replacement rider Alberto Surra, who took a remarkable podium finish on his race debut with Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing.

As well as showing as a proven front-runner in its first year, the R9 has also demonstrated its suitability as a platform to propel young talent forward with rookies Aldi Satya Mahendra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing) and Roberto Garcia (GMT-94 Yamaha) both impressing in the WorldSSP class this year with clear podium potential.

Manzi now sits atop of the WorldSSP standings by 69 points as he strives to secure his first world championship crown with Can Öncü in a comfortable second place. Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing and Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Racing are locked in battle for team championship glory, with just 18 points separating them with three rounds remaining.

MXGP entered the final three weeks and last three fixtures of the 2025 season with a trip to the flat, hardpacked Afyon circuit hosting the Grand Prix of Turkey. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jeffrey Herlings won for the second race in a row and for the fourth time with his 2025 KTM 450 SX-F. Simon Laengenfelder was the overall winner in MX2 with the KTM 250 SX-F – the sixth time the German has stood on top of the box in 2025 –as the series waved goodbye to European terrain. Red Bull KTM ruled both Qualification Heats and all four motos in Afyon.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing began the run-in to the MXGP and MX2 title disputes with the annual trip to Afyon and the purpose-built facility in eastern Turkey. Flat, jumpy, and formed from hard-packed soil, Afyon is a familiar (elevated) site for the Grand Prix paddock after its world championship inauguration in 2018.

On Saturday it was a Coenen brothers show for the Qualification Heats. Lucas started brightly under stormy skies and won the MXGP sprint for the seventh time in 2025. Sacha grasped a customary holeshot on the KTM 250 SX-F and rode clear to his maiden MX2 Pole. In MXGP Jeffrey Herlings was runner-up for a strong 1-2 for the Red Bull KTM squad. In MX2 Simon Laengenfelder was 6th and Andrea Adamo scored 10th after a brief tumble.

Sunday’s motos followed the same trend. Coenen holeshotted and won the first race as Herlings ran to P2. The teammates swapped roles in the second outing as Coenen had to come back from a top five start. Herlings had edged clear to go 2-1 and claim the overall and Lucas came very close to relegating from title rival Romain Febvre but took P3 and a 1-2 for 2nd on the day. Herlings now has four wins for the year and has two on the bounce after acing his home Grand Prix two weeks ago.

Sacha Coenen holeshotted and controlled the first MX2 moto. Laengenfelder rose from the top five to earn P3 by the end of the distance, and Adamo had to recover ground to P8. While Adamo labored again in the second race (P9 after a crash), Laengenfelder made a better start and was able to win (the tenth time in a moto this year). Coenen was 4th and climbed the lower step of the rostrum for his sixth champagne bottle from the last eight meetings.

A maximum of 124 points remain in 2025. Coenen is 26 from the red plate in MXGP and is guaranteed a top three classification in his maiden season while Herlings is 6th in the standings and with possibilities to rise to 3rd. In MX2 Laengenfelder fronts Kay de Wolf by 12 points and Adamo is now 62 from the peak of the table.

The 2025 EMX250 European Championship is over. Gabriel SS24 KTM team’s Max Werner finished 11th overall in Turkey. Gyan Doensen missed the trip due to his left leg injury and ends his first season in the competitive feeder class with P6 in the standings.

The penultimate Grand Prix of the year will fire into life on Saturday-Sunday 20-21 of September for only the third trip to China.

Jeffrey Herlings, 2nd and 1st for 1s overall in MXGP: “Super-pleased with this win. For a Dutch rider it’s a difficult track; one of the most difficult and very hard to pass but we managed to get it done and the weekend went better than I expected. We made some good changes for the elevation so a shout out to KTM for providing me with such a good bike. 111 now, so let’s go to China and to the final two. Let’s try and finish the year as strong as we can.”

VHR VRT Yamaha Official EMX250 team’s Janis Reisulis has been crowned 2025 EMX250 European Champion after finishing as runner-up in Race One at the final round in Turkiye. The victory marks a second major career milestone for Reisulis, who won the EMX125 European Championship back in 2023, with both titles achieved aboard Yamaha machinery. 

The talented Latvian was undoubtedly the class of the field this season. Leading the series since the third round in Italy, the now two-time EMX Champion has picked up five overall victories so far, along with securing two additional podium finishes. 

With one race remaining in this year’s championship, set to take place tomorrow, the GYTR-kitted Yamaha YZ250F racer is well-positioned to add more silverware to his growing trophy collection following today’s decisive second-place finish in Race One. 

On his way to securing the 2025 EMX250 European Championship, Reisulis has also claimed the Manufacturers Championship title for Yamaha, marking the brand’s sixth success in the prestigious series, and the fourth in the last five years. 

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Manuel Lettenbichler has delivered another exceptional performance in his 2025 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship campaign, finishing as runner-up at the Abestone Hard Enduro in Italy. Racing his KTM 300 EXC, Mani battled through the steep and technical terrain of Tuscany to secure the second step of the podium at round three and maintain his championship lead.

Held in the mountains of Tuscany, close to the town of Abetone, Saturday’s Sprint Race determined the start order for Sunday’s main event. The Gold class riders face a one-hour hard enduro that delivered a variety of terrain including forest tracks, river beds, and challenging rocky climbs.

After one hour, riders within 15 minutes of the leader then had to take on the X-Loop section – a punishing 500-meter course located in the ski resort itself. Lettenbichler followed home closest rival Billy Bolt to take second place and ensure a favorable start position for Sunday’s main event.

The Gold Final on Sunday followed a similar format to the sprint, but challenged riders for a grueling two hours before directing them into the X-Loop section. With multiple laps of tough natural terrain ahead of him, Lettenbichler started strong, slotting in behind Bolt for the opening couple of laps before moving ahead and opening up a narrow advantage.

What then followed was a battle between the two championship contenders that went right down to the wire. With the lead swapping multiple times in the forest, the race was ultimately decided in the X-Loop section where Bolt got the upper hand, despite a last-minute attack by Mani.

Coming away with a hard-fought second-place result, Lettenbichler continues to lead the 2025 FIM Hard Enduro World Championship with four rounds left to contest.

Manuel Lettenbichler: “What a race! We were swapping the lead at the front so often, and Billy rode really well, so congrats to him. I haven’t enjoyed a battle like this for a long time. I almost had him at end, we ran into each other when I tried to make a block pass, but it wasn’t quite enough. I think it’s clear by the lead that the two of us opened up over the rest of the field that we’re both at the top of our game. If this carries on for the rest of the season, with the two of us fighting this hard for the top step of the podium, it’s going to make the championship very exciting.”

Enea Bastianini was the action catalyst for the Catalan Grand Prix and the fifteenth round of the current MotoGP season. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider pushed up to 3rd place and captured his first podium of the year at a cloudy but sweltering Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing‘s Pedro Acosta rode to 4th. In Moto3™ KTM confirmed the Constructors title for the second time in three years and have won all fifteen races of 2025 to-date.

Red Bull KTM topped MotoGP Practice on Friday and placed three Red Bull KTM RC16s motorcycles in the top six of the Saturday Sprint at the low grip and high tire-wearing Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Expectations were high for the 24-lap Grand Prix on Sunday with Pedro Acosta starting in 5th, Enea Bastianini in 9th and Brad Binder in 11th with Maverick Viñales doing his best to compete with limited left shoulder flexibility launching from 22nd.

 Three Red Bull KTM riders went for the same tire selection except for Acosta who elected for a soft rear and the immediate traction advantage helped the Spaniard run within half a second of the lead for the first quarter of the GP. Bastianini moved quickly up to P4 and was right behind his brandmate. Binder hovered on the edge of the top ten but lost control into Turn 7 on lap eight.

 Acosta’s gamble for the podium faded by mid-race as Bastianini powered forwards. Meanwhile Viñales was bravely making laps within the points-scoring bracket. Enea briefly kept in touching distance of the two riders ahead but then had to consolidate his speed and was comfortably 3rd, almost ten seconds ahead of Pedro who was focused on the flag. Red Bull KTMs occupied P3, P4 and P13 by the finale.

4th represents Acosta’s sixth top five result from 15 rounds this season and he sits 5th in the championship standings. Binder is 11th, Bastianini is up to 12th and Viñales is 15th.

 MotoGP moves to the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the San Marino Grand Prix next week.

Brad Binder, DNF and 11th in the championship standings: “For some reason I didn’t get off the line well. I was mugged into Turn 1 and then pushed through the field to try and catch-up. Everything was working incredibly well. The bike was amazing…but braking into Turn 7 and as I cut back for the corner I must have touched the white line. It was enough to close the front. A bit of a pity because I felt really good. We have to take the positives of the weekend and I think with a ‘normal’ weekend we can be really strong again.”

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia has once again asserted his dominance at the 6DAYS FIM Enduro of Nations, claiming a record-breaking fifth consecutive overall individual victory. Competing for Team Spain aboard his KTM 250 EXC-F, the reigning EnduroGP World Champion delivered another masterclass performance over six demanding days at the 6DAYS Italia.

Kicking off the week in commanding style, Garcia topped the individual timesheets on day one, setting the pace through the rain-hit Italian terrain. The Spaniard built momentum fast, going on to win days two and three to establish an early advantage in the overall standings. Despite a finger injury sustained during day four, Garcia fought through the pain to remain competitive, narrowly conceding the day win to rival Andrea Verona.

Thursday saw the return of the rain in Bergamo, making for extremely demanding conditions and as a result, the action was reduced to just four tests. Bouncing back strong, Garcia delivered another winning ride on day five, extending his lead ahead of Friday's traditional final motocross test.

With a 40-second buffer going into the final race, Josep just had to stay out of trouble to secure the event victory. A tough start saw the Spaniard complete the first lap just inside the top 10. From there, Josep increased his pace to move up through the field and ultimately finish sixth at the checkered flag to secure the overall individual 6DAYS win.

Josep Garcia: “The 2025 6DAYS is over. It was a really good event for me; I won four out of the six days. I had a problem on day four when I hit my finger in one of the chicanes and hurt it quite badly, but thankfully, I was able to carry on and complete the day. It’s a dream come true to win my fifth consecutive overall, I just need a World Trophy win now, and you can be sure Team Spain will be back next year to fight for that. Now, I have some time to relax and celebrate, but then the focus returns to EnduroGP and the fight for the title.”

Home nation Italy took the honors in the World Trophy category, with Sweden finishing as runners-up, helped in part by KTM 350 EXC-F-mounted Max Ahlin. Team USA narrowly missed out on the podium in fourth, with strong performances from KTM riders Jonathan Girroir and Dante Oliveira contributing to the result.

In the Women’s World Trophy, KTM-mounted Brandy Richards took the individual win on her way to leading Team United States to victory – the third consecutive trophy win for the USA.

The Manufacturer’s Team Award went to Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Josep Garcia, Jonathan Girroir, and Dante Oliveira, with the second KTM team of Max Ahlin, Angus Riordan, and Grant Davis securing third with a strong performance on the final day.

The 2026 6DAYS FIM Enduro of Nations will be held in Portugal from 12-17 October.