08.11.2025

P2 for Acosta and 0.1 of a second from Portuguese MotoGP™ Sprint victory

MotoGP 2025 - Round 21 of 22, Algarve International Circuit – Qualification and Sprint

Pedro Acosta 2025 MotoGP Portimao Saturday © KTM Images/Polarity Photo

This press release has: 21 Images

The penultimate Saturday of the 2025 MotoGP season passed in fine style for Red Bull KTM. Pedro Acosta fought from lights-to-flag for Sprint victory at the Algarve International Circuit near the town of Portimão and finished 2nd for his sixth medal of the year. Red Bull KTM saw three KTM RC16s in the top ten after 12 laps of the undulating course in southern Europe.

Pedro Acosta rallies to his sixth Sprint podium of the 2025 campaign around the spectacular looping 4.5km course after starting from his maiden front row qualifying spot of the season
Brad Binder makes another charge to score points with P9 and a recovery from 14th on the grid
Pol Espargaro stands in for Maverick Viñales for the fourth time this season and takes the KTM RC16 to P10
The KTM GP Academy watch Valentin Perrone set the 10th fastest time in Moto3™ as Collin Veijer starts from the Moto2™ front row for the second occasion in 2025

The Portuguese Grand Prix brought MotoGP to Europe once more and to the fast cambered turns of the AIC for the seventh time. The final ‘back-to-back’ salvo of the season began under cloudy skies and light batches of rain on Friday and then sunshine on Saturday. Pedro Acosta was immediately up to speed and ran in contention for provisional Pole on Friday: the youngster bagged the 3rd quickest lap in Practice for another Q2 entry. He was joined by Pol Espargaro, performing admirably once more while on replacement duty in Red Bull KTM Tech3 colors and 9th fastest.

Brad Binder was just over two tenths of a second from Q2 and went into Q1 with Enea Bastianini. The South African and Italian then throttled through tricky conditions on Saturday morning as the track dried from overnight rain. Brad and Enea ended Q1 with 14th and 16th places on the grid for the Sprint and the Grand Prix. Acosta was again vibrant in Q2 and rushed to a lap less than two tenths of a second away from Pole. He filled P2 for his best qualifying outing of 2025 to-date. Espargaro grabbed P10 for a space on the fourth row.

The Sprint benefited from the positive climate and fully dry asphalt. Acosta slid into P2 and then tussled for the lead with two rivals for the full duration of an exciting race and one of the most intense of the year. After the final flight to the line, Acosta was denied by just 0.120 of a second. The podium appearance was his third on the bounce after Saturday success in Australia and Malaysia. Further back Binder was strong in the opening laps to invade the top ten and was then busy in a four-rider dispute. The South African classified 9th one place ahead of Espargaro who maintained a decent pace and was part of the same persistent pack. Bastianini gained three positions over his qualifying rank to be 13th.

The Grand Prix will begin at 13.00 local time (14.00 CET) and for 25 laps of the AIC.

Pedro Acosta, 2nd in qualification, 2nd in the Sprint: “That was sick. It was nice. I enjoyed it. The only problem is that our weak point is [extra] traction and that was the others’ strong point! I was not losing a lot in places and I was super-strong in turns 3 and 5 but my goal was to be in front, and I tried to be there as long as I could. I was missing 0.2 at the end to try something for the win. The factory and the team are working a lot to give me a better bike and we’re just trying to take the 100% from what we have. Let’s try again tomorrow.”

Brad Binder, 14th in qualification, 9th in the Sprint: “Not too bad. I felt better than I have all weekend. I made up a few places but not as many as I’d like. A bit too late…but we have the main race tomorrow and if we can find a bit more rear contact and more balance then we can make good improvements that will take us a long way.”

Pol Espargaro, 10th in qualification, 10th in the Sprint: “I did a couple of mistakes in the last few laps and I lost one second but to be with the guys and in that battle for 6th was more than I expected. It was insane! They were just in front and I really wanted a bit more but today was fine.”

Enea Bastianini, 16th in qualification, 13th in the Sprint: “The Sprint was a bit complicated because after 4-5 laps I tried to push more but the front tire dropped. I missed confidence on corner entry and grip on the edge. I was losing time in a few places on the track, so we need to continue working. We made some adjustments to the bike for my position but they didn’t work for me. We’ll try something else again tomorrow because I need to use the bike how it needs to be ridden.”

Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “It’s quite special for us when we get the chance to fight for the win and Pedro’s 2nd place was a great result. On the other hand we also feel that today was a very good chance to go for the first victory of the year and we need to analyze what we were missing. We believe we understand, and tomorrow we will have another chance so let’s try to use it well. Generally, it was also a positive day that we could have three riders in the top ten and we have continued our positive trend of work in this last segment of the season.”

Grand Prix of Portugal photographs can be found HERE

Results Qualifying MotoGP Grand Prix of Portugal

1. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Aprilia 1:37.556

2. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.150

3. Fabio Quartararo (FRA) Yamaha +0.304

10. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.893

14. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:39.360 (Q1)

16. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 1:39.635 (Q1)

Results MotoGP Sprint Grand Prix of Portugal

1. Alex Marquez (ESP) Ducati 19:50.075

2. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.120

3. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Aprilia +0.637

9. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +9.052

10. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +10.121

13. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +13.469

KTM GP Academy

Moto3 missed the presence of world champion Jose Antonio Rueda – recovering after his Sighting Lap accident in Malaysia two weeks ago – and Jacob Roulstone (the Australian nursing a fractured hand) but the Red Bull KTM Ajo and Red Bull KTM Tech3 teams were able to draft in Brian Uriarte and Joel Esteban respectively.

It was Esteban who ran the hotter pace through a sun-kissed Q2 on Saturday. The Spaniard managed a lap-time good enough for P6 and the end of the second row. Teammate Valentin Perrone was a fraction of a second away in P10. Almost the entire 17-rider group in Q2 were split by just one second. Alvaro Carpe, who still has the chance of a top five championship finish in his rookie season, was P12, two places ahead of 2026 Moto3 teammate Uriarte. The 19-lap Moto3 race has the unusual duty of closing the schedule on Sunday with the red light set to disappear at 15.30 CET.

Moto2™ action for Red Bull KTM Ajo meant that Collin Veijer was joined again by Daniel Muñoz as Deniz Öncü had not recovered sufficiently to make his way to Portugal. After Friday it was the Dutchman who set the quicker lap-time with P10 as Muñoz went into Q1. Saturday’s qualification saw Veijer making more progress and his finest effort came on the sixth lap of seven attempts. He ended up 3rd – 0.149 from Pole – to repeat his personal best of his rookie Moto2 year (achieved in Barcelona). Muñoz squeezed out of Q1 and ended the day 7th fastest. The intermediate category will open Sunday’s agenda at 12.15 with a 21-lap distance.

Results Qualifying Moto3 Grand Prix of Portugal

1. Joel Kelso (AUS), KTM 1:46.764

2. Scott Ogden (GBR), KTM +0.069

3. Angel Piqueras (ESP), KTM +0.163

4. Maximo Quiles (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team +0.280

6. Joel Esteban (ESP), Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.303

10. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.467

12. Alvaro Carpe (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.665

14. Brian Uriarte (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.744

16. Dennis Foggia (ITA) CFMOTO Aspar Team +0.901

Results Qualifying Moto2 Grand Prix of Portugal

1. Diogo Moreira (BRA) 1:41.168