Emotions ran high on Sunday at the Grand Prix of Valencia for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 MotoGP™ team, the final round of the 2025 season, but most importantly, the final race of our team principal Hervé Poncharal, after 36 amazing years leading our historic Tech3 team. It seems impossible to sum up in just a few lines how grateful everyone in the team is to you, how much of a model you have been to every single one of us in the team, so we will just keep it simple: Merci pour tout Hervé, tu vas nous manquer.
Grand Prix of Valencia
Enea Bastianini was all ready to go for the final one of the season, all boosted by his sprint pace. As he lined up in 20th on the grid, Bastianini took an exceptional launch to land in 12th after the opening lap, while it was poleman Marco Bezzecchi who took the holeshot ahead of Alex Marquez, to never look back until the finish-line. Maverick Viñales had taken a solid start too, with 6 positions gained as he entered lap 2 in P15. Both Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders pushed hard in the early laps, with Bastianini making it to 10th on lap 4 as Joan Mir completed his long lap penalty, with teammate Brad Binder ahead, while Maverick was up to 12th after 5 laps. Five laps later, Enea was still in 10th, but Binder had grown the gap, and almost one second separated the two KTM riders. Unfortunately, ‘Bestia’ made a small mistake on lap 13 that grew even bigger the gap to Binder, and he entered lap 14 in the battle for 10th against a charging Mir. The Italian resisted the Spaniard as much as he could, until Fabio Quartararo came tickle Mir, to eventually overtake the number 36, and allow Bastianini to breathe a bit more. The number 23 eventually crossed the finish line in P10, to end the season on a good note! On his side, Maverick had lost two positions to both Oliveira and Mir on lap 7 as he then sat in P14 for most of the race, but unfortunately he decided to retire from the race to protect his shoulder as he felt less and less strength as laps went by.
That’s it for 2025, one more season successfully achieved for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team with our two riders Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales. Thank you to both of them for their dedication on and off track. We had some highs and lows, but we know 2026 will be even better. We ain’t done yet tough, as the squad will stay in Valencia for the first test of 2026, on Tuesday!
Last but not least, the whole team wishes the best to Mathilde Poncharal, our press officer, and Guy Coulon, Tech3 co-founder, both leaving the adventure alongside Hervé Poncharal. Thank you for everything.
ENEA BASTIANINI: "The start was so good! It was a bit strange though, because I saw all the early incidents, with Franco hitting Aleix on the grid, and then Zarco taking down Bagnaia in T4! I am happy with our first 4-5 laps, I had enough confidence to recover quite a few positions. Later on after 10 laps, the front tire started dropping a lot, and I could not give more sadly. I am usually quite good at managing tires, but today somehow we just did not make it work. I am quite happy with my defense against Joan Mir also, I did not let it go, and it is positive for us to finish with a top 10. 2025 has been full of ups and downs, we were competitive again in the middle of the season, but then I dropped again, and we struggled a bit more. Tuesday's test will be very important for us with my new crew chief, we are all very tired, but we really want to have a good day. Also, thank you to Hervé and Mathilde, who are leaving, they have been both great."
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "I am keeping the highs of this season, when I was at the level, I was at the front fighting with the top guys, which is what I want to remember from this year. Tuesday's test will be important for us as we continue the rehabilitation, and then we will have the full winter to spend time in the gym, work on myself, and come back stronger, which is the only mindset that I have. I am of course hungry for results, I still want to fight for victories, so I am already looking forward to next season."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "Last race of the season, and one thing is sure, Enea Bastianini is a racer! The weekend has been a summary of the season, meaning poor qualifying and incredible race pace. He achieved a strong top 10 from P20, so as I have already mentioned, our main focus during the pre-season tests will be on the one fast lap to improve the grid positions. Maverick Viñales had to retire a few laps to the end as his shoulder was getting weaker and weaker, so he just prefered returning to the pit box before making a mistake. The recovery has been a long road, and it is still going on, Maverick will need the next two months to be back at his 100%, which is our target. To finish, I would like to congratulate both our riders for their season. It has been a long one, the first with 22 rounds, with highs, including a podium with Enea, and lows, but it is racing, and I am sure that we will be back stronger next season. Finally, the whole team would like to say a huge thank you to both Hervé Poncharal and Guy Coulon, the founders of Tech3 thirty-six years ago in 1989, who both transmitted their passion for motorcycle racing to thousands of people. I really hope that the team’s future will be as bright as it has been in the last decade."
RACE RESULTS
1. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), Aprilia Racing, 40'52.458
2. Raul Fernandez (SPA), Trackhouse MotoGP Team, +0.686
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA), VR46 Racing Team, +3.765
10. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +17.460
DNF. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 4 laps
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 545pts
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 467pts
3. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), Aprilia Racing, 353pts
14. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 112pts
18. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 72pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2025 - M. Bezzecchi (ITA) - 1'28.809 - 162.3 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - R. Fernandez (SPA) - 1'29.976 - 160.2 km/h
Best Pole: 2025 - M. Bezzecchi (ITA) - 1'28.809 - 162.3 km/h
Top Speed: 2025 - M. Bezzecchi (ITA) - 342.0 km/h
