English
Italiano
For the first time this year, both Red Bull KTM Tech3 factory riders scored World Championship points in Sunday's Texas GP, but a 7th (Enea Bastianini) and 14th (Viñales) place don't reflect the true capabilities of these former world champions. After all, the Italian rider finished 3rd in the 2022 MotoGP World Championship and 4th in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship, both times on Ducati, while Viñales came in 3rd twice in the World Championship and 4th twice between 2016 and 2019 on Suzuki and Yamaha. Then, when last year's COTA winner, Viñales, qualified directly for the Q2 on Friday, expectations rose.
Tech3 team owner Hervé Poncharal traveled to Texas with some high hopes, since the KTM RC16 riders were looking to take advantage of their top-speed in the straights. "The mood among our riders and in our Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP team was and is significantly better than our actual performance and results show and suggest," Poncharal summarized. "We were very happy with Maverick because he already had a great feeling on Friday on a track he loves. We all remember 2024, when he confidently secured the pole position, sprint, and the GP victory in Austin. With Maverick, we got a rider into the Q2 on Friday the first time this year, which put us in a positive mood."
But in Saturday's sprint, Viñales and Bastianini remained without points. The ten-time MotoGP winner from Spain retired due to severe vibrations from his rear wheel. "The data showed that stopping was the right decision," Poncharal admitted. "But what happened to Maverick on Sunday was a real shame, because the team had eliminated the vibrations. Maverick was quite happy in the warm-up. Then there was a technical problem on the grid but, luckily, they were able to restart the bike in the pit lane. Maverick couldn't take his starting position, so he started from the pit lane and was, therefore, in last place for seven laps. Maverick then set a personal fastest lap of 2:02.979 minutes, moving up to thirteenth place. But he lost some speed in the last two laps, which caused him to drop back one position. It's a shame, because Maverick could've finished in the points zone in Saturday's sprint, meaning he could've finished in the top nine. Nevertheless, he appeared very positive about the future on Sunday evening, and that's what I love about him. Maverick made progress in adapting to the KTM in Austin, and that trend is going to continue in Qatar."
While Viñales secured a 10th place on the grid in Texas, Bastianini couldn't get beyond a 17th. "Enea had a great pace on Sunday. He set a lap time of 2:02.914 minutes, making him the fastest KTM rider on Sunday. This allowed him to improve from seventeenth to seventh place," Poncharal calculated. "In the end, Enea was only one second behind fifth place and two seconds behind fourth place. He lost six seconds on the first lap. I don't want to discuss the ifs and buts, though. We finished seventh. Those are the facts. But Enea stormed forward with astonishing speed, and he had the rider in fourth place (Morbidelli) within striking distance. Maverick achieved a similar lap time and, if he had been able to start from his tenth place on the grid, I'd say a top-five finish would've been feasible."
Hervé Poncharal draws encouragement from the bright lights at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), even though he expected more, after Pedro Acosta shone there in 2024 with the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, finishing an excellent 2nd on the RC16.
Poncharal: "Enea Bastianini achieved his best result on the KTM so far in Texas after his ninth place in Thailand. But he showed progress this time since, in Buriram, he criticized the fact that he was only fast in the second half of the race and then practiced thireteen overtaking maneuvers. In the USA, he had a very good feeling with the bike, from the start, on Sunday. In the warm-up, we were able to improve the feeling again with a few modifications. Enea then told us that he was able to really push from the first lap. He was quite satisfied with his race. I'm happy to have both riders in the points zone, even if seventh and fourteenth places aren't what we expected. But, if Enea hadn't been brought down in Argentina on Sunday in the early stages, when he was in twelfth place, he would've really scored big there too. So, his standings in the world championship would've look pretty encouraging for him."
While KTM now occupies 3rd place in the Constructors Championship, after three Grand Prix races, no KTM rider is in the top ten in the Riders Championship standings: 11) Binder 19 points; 12) Bastianini 16; 13) Acosta 16; 17) Viñales 6.
"But the performances in Texas are encouraging," Poncharal stated in an interview with GPone.com. "I have to thank both the riders and their crew chiefs. I'm really impressed by what Alberto Giribuola is doing for Enea and how much Manu Cazeaux is supporting Maverick. We have two strong teams in the garage. I hope the fire that was felt in Austin continues to burn in Doha and then in the European races."
