The first Super Saturday of 2025 just ended at the Grand Prix of Thailand with plenty of MotoGP™ action going on at the Chang International Circuit, with many Thai fans having made their way to the city of happiness to witness spectacular track action on the opening round of the 2025 World Championship. After respectively qualifying in 18th and 20th on the grid, Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini sprinted for the first time in Red Bull KTM Tech3 colours, and finished 14th and 18th.
Grand Prix of Thailand
Qualifying
0.073 seconds. A tiny margin that can totally change a story. After finishing just in P11 on Friday’s Practice at the doors of the direct Q2 tickets, Maverick Viñales had to go through his first Q1 in a while on Saturday morning. However, it was a busy session with two-time World Champion Francesco Bagnaia also on the entry list. After 30 minutes of Free Practice 2 to finalize details on the RC16, the #12 took off for Q1 on the chase for the first two positions. The first time set was a 1’33.884 provisionally placing him in the top 5 while Bagnaia had already set the fastest lap on his way to what seems to be a formality for him, Q2. He did not return on track after that, as his 1’29.180 remained the fastest. In his second run, Top Gun immediately set a 1'29.701, but somehow he was not able to improve the two next laps. That meant he finished 8th of the session, therefore qualifying in 18th on the grid ahead of his first Tissot Sprint with the team. On Enea Bastianini’s side, the first qualifying shootout was not the one expected, but the Italian admitted on Friday with some honest feedback that the adaptation to the RC16 could take a few rounds until he’s able to completely figure out his new machine. After Free Practice 2, the Italian struggled a bit to find his rhythm during the first run. Eventually in his second, he reached a 1'29.916 that placed him 20th on the starting grid.
Tissot Sprint
As lights went out for the first time of the season for 13 laps of sprint madness, Maverick Viñales, from his 18th place on the grid, gained 3 positions to P15 in the first corners, but he then had to battle it out in the pack to defend his ground. Eventually he dropped to P16 after the first lap, 0.361 seconds behind Firmin Aldeguer, before being overtaken in the next lap by Marco Bezzecchi. The new Aprilia rider moved up and that left Luca Marini for Maverick to chase. At the front, Marquez brothers had taken the lead together with Francesco Bagnaia. Top Gun settled in that P17 for a while, and Maverick had a gap of a bit more than half a second to Marini. Eventually, he made a move on the HRC rider in the second sector of the final lap, to see the checkered flag in 14th, after Jack Miller and Fabio Di Giannantonio had retired earlier. Teammate Enea Bastianini gained two positions at the sprint start to exit lap 1 in 18th behind Marco Bezzecchi. The next lap, he found himself behind teammate Viñales, and Miguel Oliveira at the back. The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider seemed to struggle to settle into his race pace early, and he was eventually overtaken by the Portuguese on lap 5, but Miller’s crash ahead had him move to 19th. Soon, rookie Somkiat Chantra overtook him on lap 9, but he gained that place back to finish the first sprint of the season in 18th.
Red Bull KTM Tech3 will be back tomorrow for the main event of the Grand Prix of Thailand, which will kick off at 15:00 (UTC+7) for 26 laps.
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "It was our first sprint race with the KTM, and we obviously have a lot to learn, as we are not ready. We need to understand the bike more, and find a better set up. We gathered a lot of information today, and we’ll be looking forward to the long race tomorrow to continue learning and improving."
ENEA BASTIANINI: "This first sprint has been a disaster to be fair. We made many mistakes today, it was not an easy one at all but we have to fight, to try to do better. We will see how the bike behaves on the long distance tomorrow, and we will go from there."
NICOLAS GOYON, Team Manager: "First sprint of the season for the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, and it was obviously not the start we were hoping for. We know both Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini are learning a new bike, so we have to be patient as it is going to take a bit of time until they feel comfortable on the KTM. They both have the right mentality and the working methods that you need to have when you arrive on a new bike, so we have to trust them, and trust the process. According to them, they learnt a lot today, much more than during the winter tests, so I am sure that step by step, we will learn and close the gap to the other riders. Heads down, and let’s continue working."
QUALIFYING RESULTS
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 1'28.782
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +0.146
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, +0.173
18. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.521 (Q1)
20. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.736 (Q1)
SPRINT RESULTS
1. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, 19'35.005
2. Alex Marquez (SPA), BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP, +1.185
3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, +3.423
14. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +18.984
20. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +23.948
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'28.700, 184.8 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2023 - M. Bezzecchi (ITA) - 1'30.896, 180.3 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'28.700, 184.8 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - P. Acosta (SPA) - 340.6 km/h
