The shock wave of the signing of Marc Márquez for the official Ducati team has precipitated the rest of the movements that will make up the MotoGP World Championship grid in 2025. KTM has given an important blow to the table by announcing the incorporation of Maverick Viñales and Enea Bastianini, two of the fastest drivers on the grid, for his satellite squad, the French Tech3. The Austrian factory, which has been getting closer to the Italian leaders in the fight for the title for years, takes a good haul from its European rivals and also emulates the winning tactics of the Bologna manufacturer.
Viñales, 29 years old, has accumulated 10 victories and 35 podiums in 10 seasons in the premier category. The Roses rider, in a surprising and unexpected move, signs a new pirouette in his career after having taken three years to uncover his potential in Aprilia. After ending his prolonged drought of victories during the last GP of the Americas, this same year, the Catalan will leave the Noale factory – which rescued him at his worst moment, after his dismissal from Yamaha in 2021 – towards a project that can making him the only rider in history to win with four different factories after having won with Suzuki, Yamaha and Aprilia.
Moto3 Champion with a KTM in 2013, Viñales was responsible for giving Suzuki its first victory in MotoGP in 2016, and the following year he debuted with Yamaha with two consecutive victories. Despite his undoubted potential and talent, the Spaniard has always shown two faces on the track, easily being the fastest when all the elements align, but also showing himself incapable of bringing out his best version in the event of the slightest imbalance within your garage. The arrival of Jorge Martín to Aprilia, another consequence of Márquez’s ‘Game of Thrones’, made the man from Roses rethink his position within the brand, feeling like he was second fiddle, and decided to evaluate the rest of the offers on the table. .
Bastianini, 26, has five wins and 12 podiums in four seasons in MotoGP, and was also part of the KTM family during his World Cup debut in Moto3. After a long learning period, he won the Moto2 title in 2020 before making the jump to the premier category with Ducati, which made him one of its young promises. His best season, in 2022, saw him win four races and accumulate six podiums with the Gresini team, where Márquez now stands out, who will inherit his seat in the factory team. The Rimini native was promoted ahead of Martín the last two years, but he has not been able to replicate with the official colors the performance that made him the companion of the world champion Pecco Bagnaia.
“We are delighted to be able to add Enea and Maverick to our MotoGP project and give them the full support of the factory,” commented Pit Beirer, head of the Austrian factory. “The team label for 2025 says it all: it is time to strengthen the KTM name again,” added the executive. The Europeans’ strategy is to emulate the Ducati lineup, which in recent times has put four identical, state-of-the-art motorcycles on the asphalt, giving the same weapons to its official team and Pramac, current team champion in the queen category despite being a satellite squad.
The Spanish brand GasGas, owned by the Austrians and present in the last two campaigns on the grid, will abandon it in order to make KTM’s renewed commitment even more visible in its search for the first World Cup crown. The group will have a luxury lineup after adding Viñales and Bastianini to a cause that already includes Brad Binder and rookie Pedro Acosta, the new MotoGP phenomenon. As a consequence of these signings, the Spanish Augusto Fernández and the Australian Jack Miller are left without a seat in the premier category for now. The good news for them is that there are still 12 places to be confirmed for next year.
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