And just like that, the 2025 summer break is already a distant memory! Everyone is rested, tanned, and batteries are fully recharged, as the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad is heading to the beautiful Red Bull Ring for the Grand Prix of Austria, marking the start of a busy second half to the 2025 MotoGP™ World Championship! Forced to miss out on the races of both Germany and Republic Czech following his shoulder injury sustained at the Sachsenring early July, Maverick Viñales will be traveling to Austria this week after a speedy recovery. Of course, the Spaniard will be subject to a medical inspection on Thursday to be given the green light to jump back on his KTM RC16. Enea Bastianini will be eager to return to action, after his best weekend of the season in Brno before the break, with the Italian scoring his first podium in orange with a third place in the Brno sprint.
Grand Prix of Austria
It will be a busy week awaiting the Red Bull KTM Tech3 squad on KTM’s home turf with many off-track activities going on for our orange squad. If Maverick Viñales is feeling ready to race again after his shoulder injury sustained in Germany, the Spaniard will still have to go through the medical inspection on Thursday afternoon at the track to be given the green light to race. Then, Friday will be about understanding Maverick’s physical condition just one month after the crash, before being able to think of being competitive. ‘Top Gun’ worked very hard in the last month with his team to be able to attend Austria, but it will be important to approach the weekend carefully and monitor his shoulder. On the other side of the garage, we will have an Enea Bastianini fully boosted by his Brno performance, after the Italian registered his best weekend of the season before the summer break. After making it to Q2 for the first time of 2025, ‘Bestia’ scored his first podium with KTM with a brilliant 3rd place in the sprint. Unfortunately, he crashed on Sunday’s race while fighting for the podium, but that weekend gave Bastianini an extra boost of confidence that he will be looking forward to bringing to Spielberg this week. The Italian was on the podium last season in Austria, so the 4,35 km layout located in the beautiful hills of Styria is one that suits the number 23, but we will have to find out how he approaches it with his RC16.
The Red Bull KTM Tech3 team will be back in action on Friday with Free Practice 1 at 10:45 local time (UTC+2), before Practice at 15:00 later in the day to determine the first 10 riders directly qualified for Q2. On Saturday, we’ll be back at the Red Bull Ring with Free Practice 2 at 10:10, immediately followed by the qualifying sessions starting at 10:50. The Tissot Sprint will then start at 15:00 for 14 laps of craziness. Finally, we’ll find out who will dare to take the bull by the horns, with the main event scheduled on Sunday at 14:00 (UTC+2), for 28 laps! We’re back baby!
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "The injury in Sachsenring was unfortunate, but we have worked really hard with all the people around me to be able to travel to Austria, just one month after the crash in Germany. I was able to get back to training last week, and we have been doing a lot of physio to help the shoulder heal faster and get stronger. I have not been on a bike for a month, so we will have to wait for Friday to evaluate our form, and understand if we can be competitive. It is going to be important to take it step by step. I am super happy to be able to attend the Austrian Grand Prix, it is KTM's home round, and it was very important for me to be in Spielberg to represent our colours. The track is so nice, so I am super excited to reunite with the team and take things where we left them. They did a great job with Pol (Espargaro) in Brno in my absence, and I would like to say a special thank you to Pol for the work done with the team!"
ENEA BASTIANINI: "The summer break was nice to get some rest and recharge the batteries, but I feel ready to go back racing, and super excited to reunite with the team, especially after the weekend in Brno during which we made a really good step forward all together. In addition, I attended an aero test during the break, so I am hoping that we will be able to bring more improvements this week. It is the first time that I am heading to Austria with the feeling of a home leg, since it is going to be a very important round for KTM, and I really want to perform in Spielberg. The Red Bull Ring is such a nice track, I really enjoy it, so let's see how we can manage it with the KTM. Brno gave me more confidence, and I am curious to see what we can do this weekend!"
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "MotoGP is ready to be back in action after the summer break, and the second part of the season begins at the very special Austrian Grand Prix, our manufacturer’s home race. As every year, this round is a unique opportunity to meet our Austrian fans and it always brings extra motivation to our riders who want to perform well in front of the orange crowd. Maverick Viñales will be traveling to Austria this week following his injury sustained in Germany that forced him to miss out on both Sachsenring and Brno action. The recovery has been good, Maverick has worked hard over the last month to be in Spielberg. He will of course have to attend the medical inspection on Thursday, and then we will have to first understand his physical condition, before thinking of performance. Enea Bastianini will start his second half of the season with a clearly better understanding of the KTM. Progress has been clear since Silverstone, and Brno was by far his best weekend with a direct Q2 and his first podium in the sprint race. It gave him extra confidence heading to the break, and I am sure that he will carry on making progress as we return to action on KTM’s home turf in Austria."
ABOUT THE TRACK
The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg is located beautifully in the Murtal-region of Styria, Austria. The circuit was originally built in 1969, then known as the Österreichring. In 1996, it was rebuilt with the track-layout it still has today and in 2011 was reopened as the Red Bull Ring and again became the centre of Austrian motorsports. The sloping terrain and the natural arena are trademark features of the Red Bull Ring with the 18-metre-high landmark “Bull of Spielberg” in the centre and the voestalpine wing offering a spectacular architectural highlight. With a length of 4.35 km, it features 11 turns and an altitude difference of 65 metres. The 2016 season saw the Red Bull Ring host its first MotoGP™ race as the World Championship returned to Austria for the first time since 1997.
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1'27.748 - 178.3 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'29.519 - 174.8 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1'27.748 - 178.3 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - L. Savadori (ITA) - 317.1 km/h
