A new race week already lies ahead of us, as the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team is settling down to the new Balaton Park, Hungary’s newest motorsport destination. Located just 80 km from Budapest and by the Balaton Lake, the Michelin® Grand Prix of Hungary is the newest addition to the MotoGP™ calendar, for everyone’s excitement! Fresh from his top 5 in Austria, Enea Bastianini will be looking to keep the momentum going, while Pol Espargaro will step up once again with the squad to replace Maverick Viñales, who will continue to focus on his left shoulder recovery.
Grand Prix of Hungary
What do we know about Balaton Park? It will host a MotoGP™ race for the first-time ever, after it officially opened in May 2024. The circuit is long of 4.08 km and features 17 corners (10 left and 7 right), with a longest straight of 665m. Modifications were brought to specially welcome our championship, which returns to Hungary for the first time in 33 years. Enea Bastianini will of course arrive with no reference, but one thing is sure, he will arrive at round 14 full of confidence from the Austrian GP. The Italian registered both his best 2025 qualifying and his best 2025 result at the Red Bull Ring, finishing in P5 from 5th on the grid, and that will certainly boost his motivation to arrive at a new track. Red Bull KTM Factory Test rider will once again join the team after Brno, to replace Maverick Viñales who has opted for more recovery time following his try at the Austrian Grand Prix last week. Espargaro will already have data from the track, after he already made a test with KTM a few months ago, and he will bring with him crucial information to the squad.
MotoGP™ is about to roar for the first time in Balaton, and we will be there! The action of the Hungarian Grand Prix will kick off with Free Practice 1 at 10:45 (UTC+2), followed by the Practice session later in the afternoon at 15:00. Then, we will have our first Super Saturday on Hungarian soil, with FP2 at 10:10, followed shortly by the qualifying sessions from 10:50. The Tissot Sprint of 13 laps will then be at the usual time, 15:00 local time. Finally, the main event will be at 14:00 LT for 26 laps, on Sunday!
ENEA BASTIANINI: "We arrive in Hungary with much more confidence. Austria’s race weekend reinforced what we have done in Brno and this confirms we are working well, and in the good direction. Big credits to the team and KTM for the efforts made so far. I hope we will be able to keep the same path in Balaton even if it is difficult to predict the output as it will be a new track for everyone."
POL ESPARAGARO: "It’s tough for Maverick to miss another race but we saw in Austria that he needs more time for recovery and it’s important to think about MotoGP when you are 100%. I know this only too well! I repeat again what I said in Czechia: he's doing an amazing job for the factory, and he deserves to continue enjoying the bike, as the other guys have done. I hope he’s back asap. Right now we focus on Hungary and it's not easy to change the test rider ‘chip’ for the MotoGP rider ‘chip’, with the level the category has right now, and with the pace the others have. We’ve had some tests recently and we can see the project is making some great progress. I’m happy to be able to help out the team and the factory again by racing this weekend and, as always, it will bring some value to our work behind the scenes and at the races. We’ll need to change our mentality and get ready for this new challenge in Balaton Park."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "We are about to close this Eastern European tour with the Michelin Grand Prix of Hungary at the newly built Balaton Park Circuit for MotoGP's anticipated return to Hungary for the first time in 30 years. It is always super exciting to discover a new place, and all riders will start the weekend on the same level. Enea Bastianini has been performing particularly well in the last two rounds, he is finally starting to enjoy the ride on his bike, and I am sure that he will keep the momentum going this weekend. Maverick Viñales will take some extra recovery time. It was really important for him to be in Spielberg, but riding the bike was really painful. Balaton Park seems to be a physically demanding layout, so it is best for him to continue recovering. Pol Espargaro will replace him. He has been training hard over the last weeks to be ready if needed, and we are very grateful to him to join us again this week. Pol has already attended a private test at this track, so his experience will be a big help to help us advance into the weekend!"
ABOUT THE TRACK
Located near the beautiful Lake Balaton and just 85 km from Budapest, Balaton Park is Hungary’s new motorsport destination. Opened in May 2023, the circuit is 4.08 km long and features a total of 17 corners, including 10 left-handers and 7 right-handers. From 2025, it will host MotoGP™, which marks a highly anticipated return to Hungary after 33 years. With eye-catching views and a capacity of 120,000 spectators, Balaton Park is set to welcome the world’s most exciting sport in style.
TRACK RECORDS
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