Eventful, crazy? It is the least we can say about this 2025 main event of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas. And the troublemaker was the same as usual… The weather! After a quite unusual chaotic departure procedure disrupted by the weather uncertainty, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Enea Bastianini earned himself a hard-fought 7th place in Austin after starting from 17th on the grid, while Maverick Viñales took the 14th place after starting from the pitlane following an issue on the starting grid seconds before lights went out.
Grand Prix of the Americas
After a positive sprint race on Saturday with a 13th place, Enea Bastianini was back for the main event on Sunday at COTA, a track he has often been strong on. As light drops of rain started to spread uncertainty amongst all riders on the grid, Enea had opted for the slick tyres hoping that the rain would completely stop. Many riders started to run back to their pitboxes to change bikes, creating a bit of a chaos that was quickly stopped by the race direction as they waved the red flag, to re-schedule a new start a few minutes later for 19 laps instead of 20. When lights were out for good, Enea gained two positions after the opening lap to sit behind Marco Bezzecchi. He remained in that position for a while until making a move on Ai Ogura, and by lap 9 he was in 13th, and he found himself 0.186 seconds from Fabio Quartararo. He quickly found his way through the Frenchman, to progress to 12th the following lap. Joan Mir’s crash ahead earned him one more position at the doors of the top 10, while the Italian’s pace kept getting stronger, in the low 2’03. After 13 laps, he was in 10th to battle it out for 9th against Luca Marini. Bestia continued to put pressure on his fellow countryman, to eventually get the better of him in sector 3 of lap 15. Just ahead, an ongoing battle between Marco Bezzecchi and Johann Zarco allowed Bastianini to close the gap on these two, with now just a 0.3 second-gap from Zarco with just 3 laps to go. On his 16th lap, Enea clocked in an excellent 2’02.953, clearly in the pace of the front, one that gave him the confidence to fight for 8th against Zarco. Eventually he attacked on the inside the number 5, to move up to 8th, while the Frenchman crashed under pressure. Shortly after, Firmin Aldeguer crashed too, and Enea was in 7th with 3 laps to go, a position he kept until the checkered flag. Awesome race from Bastianini, from 17th to 7th, who goes home with his best result of the season.
The day promised to be good for Maverick Viñales who arrived at race day with a lot of positives from his sprint race, and the good pace of the morning’s warm up gave him good confidence heading to the race. At the race restart, Top Gun was unfortunate when his bike stopped on the grid seconds before the lights were out, and he was forced to evacuate the grid and start from the pitlane. He did so, and found himself dead last 10 seconds from the last rider after one lap. However, Top Gun never gives up, especially not on his 250th career-Grand Prix. Progressively, Maverick settled into his race pace, feeling confident on his RC16. He had made the gap in 7 laps on rookie Somkiat Chantra, to then overtake him on lap 8. Viñales continued to catch back on the riders ahead, to 18th after ten laps after he had overtaken a Marc Marquez who was dropping following his crash from the lead. Next for the number 12, there was Augusto Fernandez, replacing injured Miguel Oliveira, who was 6.6 seconds ahead. Maverick was clocking in strong laps at a similar pace than the front, which allowed him to progressively close the gap on the ex-Tech3 rider. Mir’s crash at the front saw him move up to 17th, and then to 16th as Brad Binder encountered some issues. 4 laps remained, and the gap to Fernandez was now just 1.4 seconds. Top Gun could give that extra effort to close on the Spaniard, who he eventually overtook on lap 17. He was 13th with just 2 laps to go, helped by a crash between two riders ahead. He lost one position in the final lap, and eventually closed the Americas Grand Prix in 14th, to earn two points. Maverick leaves Austin with a great feeling, and a lot of positives to bring to the next round in Qatar in just two weeks!
ENEA BASTIANINI: "I am happy about my race, it has been the best one since the start of the season. I was riding very well from the middle until the end of the race, and I felt good for probably the first time on this bike. Our pace was good, and we improved as the laps went by, so I am happy. I think that we improved our bike from yesterday, which is positive for us, we are moving forward. We have found a good direction that we will need to check in the next round."
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "On the grid, I was with wet tyres and the plan was to start and swap bikes, but as many riders started to leave, I thought the race direction had shown the red flag so everyone could have the same chances. Anyway, when we returned to the grid, the bike stopped twice so I had to start from the pitlane, which was unlucky. To be honest, I felt really good, I had a good rhythm and we have clearly made improvements this weekend, so all I want is to continue in that direction with the team. Today, we had the level to be inside the top 5, so we need to keep believing that we can achieve that target, and Qatar in two weeks can be a good track to do it, so let’s keep going!"
NIOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "Somehow the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team managed to survive through this chaotic race. The start was really tricky with the weather conditions constantly changing between wet and dry. Both Enea Bastianini and Maverick Viñales made their gambles, and Enea opted in slick conditions. However, the start was delayed, and Enea could not get the profit of his good gamble. Anyway, he did a good job this weekend, he is getting better and better on the bike, and this 7th place is a great reward for his work. I think we are on the good way. On the other side of the garage, Maverick’s bike stopped on the grid for an unknown reason, meaning he had to evacuate the grid and start from the pitlane. It was a shame as he was 10 seconds from the last rider after one lap, but he stayed focused and did not give up, until he recovered to P14 to score two points. He had a really good weekend so we are obviously disappointed because there was room for more for us today. Anyway, we are leaving Austin with a positive state of mind, because Maverick and Enea have both made great steps forward this weekend, so we are looking forward to the next round in Qatar."
RACE RESULTS
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 39'00.191
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +2.089
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA), VR46 Racing Team, +3.594
7. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +12.815
14. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +42.724
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDING
1. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, 87pts
2. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 86pts
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 75pts
12. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 16pts
17. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 6pts
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - M. Viñales (SPA) - 2'00.864, 164.2 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2025 - M. Marquez (SPA) - 2'02.221, 162.3 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - M. Viñales (SPA) - 2'00.864, 164.2 km/h
Top Speed: 2023 M. Viñales (SPA) - 356.4 km/h
