Why KTM suffered its worst result of MotoGP 2025 at Japanese GP

KTM endured a tough MotoGP race in Japan, with the best of its quartet of riders finishing only 11th.

This was the first time in 2025 that it failed to log a top-10 finish in a Sunday race, dealing a severe blow to its hopes of beating Aprilia to second place in the constructors’ championship.

KTM’s dismal result on Sunday was at least partly down to lead rider Pedro Acosta running off track and dropping to the rear of the field, but the Spaniard had already been heading backwards for several laps.

Having even challenged Francesco Bagnaia for the lead on the opening tour, Acosta quickly lost a full second to the Italian, before slipping into the clutches of the other factory Ducati of Marc Marquez.

Acosta held on to second until the start of lap 11, but then dropped like a stone to sixth with tyre woes, losing places to Marquez, Joan Mir, Marco Bezzecchi and Franco Morbidelli over the following laps.

His pace dropped to mid-to-high 1m46s, and at one point he was lapping slower than even Somkiat Chantra on the LCR Honda.

The wide moment at Turn 1 on lap 19 was completely of his own making, rather than a brake problem, but it compounded a miserable day for KTM as he finished outside the points in 17th.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Acosta's lap times in Japanese GP

Acosta did not have a clear answer as to why KTM had struggled to this extent at Motegi this year, but believes high temperatures could be behind his tyre woes.

“We have to evaluate the data with the team and understand what is going on, because it looks like the four KTMs were struggling in the same way,” he admitted.

“Also, it's [like] the problem that we were having in Thailand at the beginning of the season. For this [reason], it's time to evaluate what is going on with the team. Let's see if we can improve a bit at the factory. 

“We were coming from a really good European season that was not super hot, and here the tyre gets that high temperature. It was also a softer tyre compared to the tyre that we normally use.

“It's hard for everyone, but also we have to take positives. I was fast in qualifying, I was fast in time attacks on Friday, I was fast yesterday in the Sprint [with] less laps, I was not that bad, but I was finishing more or less in the same way. 

“But today, we went into a hole [from where it] was impossible to get out of.”

Over the weekend, Acosta’s results were very much an outlier within KTM. On Saturday, he managed to qualify fourth even after being reduced to a single run due to technical issues with his bike. The next-best KTM was Brad Binder in 18th, while Tech3 riders Enea Bastianini and Enea Bastianini struggled even more, ending up 21st and last respectively.

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Qian Jun / MB Media via Getty Images

The sprint was more of the same, with Acosta the only KTM rider to score points as he finished a strong third behind Ducati duo Bagnaia and Marquez. Binder ended up 12th, Vinales was classified 16th while Bastianini retired with engine troubles.

In Sunday’s race, Binder’s task was made much harder by severe chattering, an issue that has plagued the RC16 on a number of occasions in recent years.

“I got a really good start and I was struggling with chatter from the beginning,” he said. “And when I got to about lap 12, it exploded. It started going crazy and at every single left-hand corner, I had massive vibrations until I lifted the bike up straight. 

“So it was super, super difficult. The biggest thing today was we had to try and get the centre of the tyre to the end of the race. And even managing it like hell, we finished the thing [tyre]. We've got some serious work to do.”

KTM scored its first podium of 2025 at the Czech GP in July and returned from the summer break with a significantly overhauled aero package. This allowed the Austrian marque to score three more podiums - either in sprints or on Sundays - over the following three rounds, putting it just two points behind Aprilia in the battle for second place in the constructors’ standings.

However, after a weekend in Misano wrecked by multiple chain issues, KTM struggled yet again in Japan and has now dropped 26 points behind the Noale marque. 

Only last year, Acosta had scored a sensational pole on Tech3’s GasGas-branded RC16 at Motegi, so KTM’s lack of pace was puzzling even for its riders.

Maverick Vinales, Red Bull KTM Tech 3

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“What I feel is that now there is a lot of work to do again on the bike because the feeling is not there and the way that the bike is working is not correct,” said Vinales, who has still not fully recovered from his shoulder injury.

“The tyres are not working well. I think we were not pushing the tyres in the correct way, that's why we were not able to be fast in Japan. 

“On paper, this should be a track where the KTM has to be very fast, and it's been one of the slowest races we did. There is a lot of work to do.”

Bastianini, who had logged his first podium with KTM at the start of this month in September, was also baffled by his poor form in Misano and Motegi: “I can't understand what has happened to me from Misano because in the last three, four races, I was competitive in every condition, at every track. 

“But from Misano the trend is backwards a bit now. Here, [in Japan, it] has been very very complicated for us, like if the engine wasn't like at the start of the season and like if we missed the first part of the acceleration.

“After we lose the speed but, in any case I hope to see KTM like [it was] three, four races ago, competitive. I want to be back in the top five like some races ago.”