KTM Stuns With Vinales, Acosta, and Binder Advancing to Q2 at Aragon MotoGP

Given that the KTM MotoGP team members weren’t particularly optimistic about their prospects heading into this weekend’s race at Aragon, it came as quite a shock to witness all three of the company’s racers advance to Q2 for the first time in 2025 after Friday's practice sessions.

Maverick Viñales guided the KTM group into the automatic Q2 positions in third place on the leaderboard, closely followed by team mates who are factory riders. Pedro Acosta in fifth and Brad Binder in seventh. The final KTM rider, Enea Bastianini , missed the spot at number 13 but was just two-tenths of a second away from securing a position in the top 10.

With an unusually optimistic tone, Binder talked about the minor enhancements that seemed to be the deciding factor.

Primarily, I'm pleased to have advanced directly to Q2; it has been some time since then, which is nice," stated Binder. "Overall, I believe today was quite positive. This morning, I faced significant issues with understeering, but this afternoon, we discovered adjustments that provided much better front-end feel, making it excellent.

“There’s significantly less understeer, which makes me quite pleased, and overall everything seems to be pretty good. We have some adjustments to consider for tomorrow, but I believe we’ve made a positive advancement for this circuit.”

Brad Binder from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Maverick Vinales was likewise in high spirits due to his performance, though he acknowledged that more work needs to be done, similar to how Binder expressed it.

"One of those Fridays when we can stay more optimistic, allowing KTM to be more upbeat," stated Vinales.

Although I believe we still have sections of the circuit to enhance, those areas performed much better with the medium tire. This makes it seem somewhat imbalanced when using the soft rear as the behavior at the front tends to open up your line. It becomes extremely difficult to maintain precision through segments one, two, and three.

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In Section Four, I believe we are also quite robust, just like in Section Two. Even so, I think there's room for enhancement, particularly in Sections One and Three, where maintaining corner speeds poses a challenge. During my timed runs, using the second-hand medium tires, specifically at the third turn-out, I sense we possess significant untapped potential.

Things appear to be looking up for the KTM squad at Aragon but its riders are putting off final judgment until qualifying tomorrow.