20.09.2026
MotoGP 2026 - Round 15 of 22, Red Bull Ring, Austria– Race
Highlights and key moments from race day at Red Bull Ring:
- Pedro Acosta wins at Red Bull Ring. The triumph represents KTM’s third at the circuit and the first in MotoGP since 2022. The Spaniard now has five trophies and three in a row this season and has moved up to 4th in the championship
- 6th and a hard-won 10 points for Brad Binder as the South African logs his highest classification of the season
- Enea Bastianini rides to 11th in Austria as Pol Espargaro takes 16th
- 2nd and 3rd position in Moto3 as Brian Uriarte finishes runner-up ahead of Alvaro Carpe
- Beñat Fernandez is the 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup champion after 4th position in the finale for the series
A sun-kissed Red Bull Ring shone brightly for the last European Grand Prix before the flyway sequence of the 2026 calendar. Red Bull KTM took to the MotoGP grid for 28 laps with Pedro Acosta on the front row, Brad Binder in P11, Pol Espargaro, deputizing for Maverick Viñales for the third race in a row, in P14 and Enea Bastianini in P17.
Acosta, who had been a fraction of a second from Pole Position on Saturday and led the majority of the Sprint, barged into the top three from the second circulation. He hassled the rear wheel of Jorge Martin until he was able to take lead on lap 8 and then managed the distance over his pursuers. Pedro crossed the line a second ahead of Martin to join Miguel Oliveira (2020) and Brad Binder (2021) as KTM RC16 Grand Prix winners in Spielberg. The landmark was also notable for the Spaniard, nearly three seasons into his MotoGP career and after 56 starts on Austrian technology.
Binder scorched to the top six after five laps. The South African then found 5th at mid-race distance and engaged in more battling Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia. Brad persisted with his pace, the only rider with the soft front tire choice and grabbed 6th for his efforts.
Bastianini grabbed a few positions at the outset and pushed all race to try and breach the top ten. He was just 0.3 of a second away at the end and classified 11th. Espargaro was bustled by others on the first lap and lost some time but rallied to 16th and only just missed out on GP points.
MotoGP enters a 2027 test at the Red Bull Ring on Monday before boxing-up for the flyaways to Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia in the coming weeks.
Pedro Acosta, 1st and 4th in the championship: “The first one is always special, and in front of so many Austrian fans. There were many KTM t-shirts and I’m so happy for the team, they deserve it more than me. I had many good people around yesterday when I f**ked up. This result was amazing.”
Brad Binder, 6th and 13th in the championship: “Overall, I’d say a successful weekend here in Red Bull Ring and I’m happy to have got my best finish of the year. I would have liked to have been a bit further up the grid but I did my best. Happy with the pace we were able to put together and happy with the work by the team. Well done to them, and also to Pedro on his first victory; I’m sure it’s the first of many.”
Enea Bastianini, 11th and 12th in the championship: “More or less like the Sprint for me. I was a bit surprised because my feeling was better but, checking the data, the soft front tire should have been better. It was impossible for the race because it moves in the slipstream. It was critical. Anyway, I expected a bit more and it didn’t happen. It did for Pedro though…he had an incredible race.”
Pol Espargaro, 16th and 25th in the championship: “I started to fight with the guys but ran wide into Turn 4 and when I came back Enea hit me and destroyed my side aero. I lost a lot then but then my rhythm was pretty good. I recovered and caught some riders…but it was a bit too late to do more. I’m pretty pissed-off because today we had the pace to do a pretty good race and be going for P10-P11 but everything changed in the blink of an eye. Really good for Pedro; he deserved this win earlier.”
Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Super-special day. We had some challenges this summer and if we think about the last two years there have been hard moments and good moments and I cannot say how grateful I am for everybody who is in the process. We have such a good project with many great, passionate and professional people around…and when you have a rider like Pedro, this is what you can expect. From Friday we could see the bike, the track and maybe the tire compound suited us – both riders - and we went to the maximum. We had some disappointment yesterday but today we took our chance. Pedro was a 16-year-old when I started working with him and we won Moto3 in the first season. It’s been a great road since. I feel there is the chance to learn from every rider and we’re thankful to him and that kind of talent.”
Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director: “Big emotions. We have come out of some tough moments since 2024. The company is back in shape…but we also had our issues on the track this summer: we responded from those with 2nd in Aragon, 3rd in Misano and then winning our home Grand Prix. It is something we could not have imagined a few weeks ago. I’m so happy for the team, for the factory and I also want to give this as a present to all KTM because we all fought to come out of a crisis. We are back. This is what we are fighting for. I am the happiest man and this is the happiest team on the planet. Thanks to KTM, thanks to them and thanks to Pedro who is an amazing rider.”
Grand Prix of Austria photographs can be found HERE
Results MotoGP Grand Prix of Austria
1. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 42:16.996
2. Jorge Martin (ESP) Aprilia +1.017
3. Marco Bezzecch (ITA) Aprilia +1.209
6. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +8.720
11. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +16.640
16. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +25.148
World Championship standings MotoGP
1. Jorge Martin (ESP) Aprilia, 306 points
2. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati, 294
3. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Aprilia, 264
4. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 234
12. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 97
13. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 94
22. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 10
25. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 5
KTM GP Academy
Red Bull KTM Ajo started the 20-lap Moto3 Grand Prix with Brian Uriarte on Pole Position and with Alvaro Carpe also on the front row of the grid in 3rd place. Red Bull KTM Tech3 were not far adrift with Rico Salmela in P10 and Valentin Perrone setting off from P12.
The pack filtered into a breakaway between David Almansa and Maximo Quiles at the peak of the group with Uriarte and Carpe in a distant dice for 3rd. When Almansa crashed at mid-race distance Quiles defended his lead and Uriarte was able to lead his teammate to the line. Runner-up was Brian’s fifth podium of the year while Alvaro lifted his sixth trophy of 2026 (the eleventh of his career) and has pushed back up to 2nd in the championship. Thanks to the podium lockout KTM have won the Constructors title and were given another cause for celebration on home soil. Perrone was mired in the third split and finished 12th while Salmela crashed out of 5th place on lap 8 while tipping into Turn 6.
Brian Uriarte: “At the beginning I was struggling a bit with the new tire but when it started to drop I felt a bit more comfortable and I was a bit faster than Maximo at some points. When it came to risking a crash to get closer it was not worth it. I had a few other problems, so just rolled off and kept safe. We didn’t have much time to learn the track [for Moto3] but we did a super-fast race. I want to thank my whole team for the great work and we’ll learn from this experience for the future; I’m sure of it.”
Alvaro Carpe: “For the team and for me this is an important podium and a good result but we feel it is not enough and we are a bit far from the head [of the pack] but a podium is a podium. So, happy and eyes now on Asia. Thanks to all the team and all my family and friends.”
Moto2 representation for the KTM GP Academy was reduced to just Jose Antonio Rueda; who had achieved a strong qualification lap with P9 and the third row of the starting grid. Teammate Collin Veijer was on the sidelines after a crash on Saturday led to a broken left collarbone. The Dutchman will undergo surgery in the hope of travelling to Japan next week. Rueda meanwhile continued his positive pace at Red Bull Ring through Sunday’s 23 lap race. The Spaniard ranked 12th for 4 points: his sixth points-score of the year.
The 2026 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup battle for the crown went down to the final race of the season and the second dash around the Red Bull Ring this weekend. American Kristian Daniel Junior was denied a first victory on Saturday after touching track limits on the last lap and the win was awarded to Fernando Bujosa. On Sunday David Gonzalez took the flag but the bigger picture was painted by Beñat Fernandez who classified 4th for the title and the culmination of a series that uses KTM RC 250 R ROOKIES machinery for potential Grand Prix talent of the future.
Results Moto3 Grand Prix of Austria
1. Maximo Quiles (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team 33:24.323
2. Brian Uriarte (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +2.334
3. Alvaro Carpe (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +7.394
8. Marco Morelli (ARG) CFMOTO Aspar Team +21.118
12. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +23.852
DNF. Rico Salmela (FIN) Red Bull KTM Tech3
World Championship standings Moto3
1. Maximo Quiles (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 306 points
2. Alvaro Carpe (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 175
3. David Almansa (ESP) KTM, 174
4. Brian Uriarte (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 174
5. Marco Morelli (ARG) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 146
6. Valentin Perrone (ARG) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 118
12. Rico Salmela (FIN) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 70
Results Moto2 Grand Prix of Austria
1. Izan Guevara (ESP) 35:53.421
2. Filip Salac (CZE) +1.728
3. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Aspar Team +2.945
7. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team +13.673
12. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +21.628
World Championship standings Moto2
1. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) 245.5 points
2. Izan Guevara (ESP) 210
3. Ivan Ortola (ESP) 168.5
4. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 155
6. Daniel Holgado (ESP) CFMOTO Aspar Team, 146
10. Collin Veijer (NED) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 75.5
18. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 31
PRESS CONTACT
Evangelia Sissis
PR Manager MotoGP
M: +43 676 665 2742
E: evangelia.sissis@ktm.com