ROUND 14 / AUGUST 22-24, 2025
BALATON PARK / BALATONFOKAJAR, HUNGARY
P88
KTM QUASHES RED
BULL DEPARTURE
STORY
KTM management has respond-
ed to a story that suggested Red
Bull could end its ties with the
Austrian manufacturer by insist-
ing they have extended their
partnership going forward. A
story appeared after the Austrian
GP that stated Red Bull could
be Honda's new title sponsor.
Yet Pit Beirer, KTM's Motorsport
Director, poured cold water on
this. "Thinking about that would
be completely crazy," he said.
"Just a couple of days ago our
contract got renewed with them.
This is such a long-lasting part-
nership since 2003, starting on
the off-road side, we could carry
that over on the road-racing side.
If you think back to what hap-
pened over the winter, thanks
to our friends at Red Bull, we
just couldn't manage to keep all
of our projects performing—win-
ning Dakar, winning motocross
and supercross races—and still
performing in MotoGP. That
performance means much more
than a contract."
POL TO WORLDSBK?
Friday was a positive day for
Pol Espargaro. KTM's test rider,
who is standing in for the injured
Maverick Vinales, was a bril-
liant ninth in practice. He had
tested the RC16 here previously,
handing him a temporary edge.
But for the second time in three
races, the former Moto2 champ
proved he is still more than
competitive. Could that lead to
Espargaro returning to competi-
tion full-time? The Italian media
is speculating he could be keen
Briefly...
ROAD RACE I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
