MotoGP 2025 - Round 03 of 22, Circuit of the Americas, USA – Qualification and Sprint
Top seven and three points for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing for the first day of competitive action at the Circuit of the Americas. The Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas brought MotoGP back to Texas for the twelfth time and Pedro Acosta rode to 7th in the Sprint as teammate Brad Binder was denied points in a five-way tussle on the last lap.
The long, winding 20-turn COTA facility has been the American home for MotoGP since 2013 and staged round three of the current campaign after recent events in Thailand and Argentina. For the two Red Bull KTM teams the trip to Austin presented another chance to dial-in the strengths of the 2025 KTM RC16 race package. Friday was problematic with a wet Free Practice and then subsequent Practice session that was held in drying conditions and mixed grip. Pedro Acosta and Maverick Viñales made the direct cut to Q2.
Saturday was hotter and brighter. The qualifying run in the morning saw Acosta excel and briefly hold a front row slot until belated reorganization of positions in the wake of a yellow flag. He rested with P4. Viñales was only half a second adrift in 10th. Red Bull KTM machinery occupied slots on the sixth row with Binder in P16 and Bastianini in P17 for the Sprint that afternoon and for the full Grand Prix on Sunday.
The Sprint lapped COTA ten times and brought the riders into the usual intense dispute for the opening contest of the GP. Acosta battled to the top five but ran wide twice during the first minutes and had to fight his way back to 7th for three points. Viñales kept his countryman company for the first laps but then had an issue with rear vibration and had to retire. Binder surged forward and made up a swell of positions before losing optimum tire grip and crossed the line in P12, one place in front of Bastianini; the Italian again improving his speed over his qualifying run.
MotoGP fans in Europe will need to wait until 20.00 (CET) on Sunday to catch the 20-lap Grand Prix.
Pedro Acosta, 4th in qualification, 7th in the Sprint: “A tough one. After a good qualifying we were having problems with the front tire but it’s something that a lot of riders are having. Let’s see tomorrow. It will be a long race and we’ll do the best we can. We have to make laps and get an understanding of what we need and what we can improve.”
Brad Binder, 16th in qualification, 12th in the Sprint: “Pretty difficult weekend here so far but the Sprint was definitely a bit better for us. I started to get more and more chatter so if we can try and make that go away for tomorrow then we can see what we’ll do. I want to make a clean start and have a clean race because today I was trying a bit too hard and this results in mistakes where you lose more than you are trying to gain. On the last lap I went deep into Turn 11 and the guys got me: if you’re not in 9th then it’s quite pointless anyway!”
