Why British MotoGP could end KTM’s podium wait in 2025

KTM’s wait for an official MotoGP podium in 2025 could well come to an end this weekend at the British Grand Prix if Maverick Vinales can continue his current form.

The 2025 campaign has not lived up to the expectations KTM had coming into the year, with its riders struggling to find a clear direction to go in with the RC16.

But one riders in recent races has proven that the bike is competitive, with that somewhat surprisingly being Maverick Vinales.

Despite still learning the bike, Vinales rode to a podium in the Qatar GP before it was taken from him due to a tyre pressure penalty.

But he was there in the top five in the following Spanish and French GPs, races run in completely different conditions.

Silverstone is the scene of Vinales’ first win in MotoGP when he was with Suzuki in 2016 and has been a place where he has proven to continually be competitive at over the years.

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In the latest Crash MotoGP Podcast, the team discusses Vinales’ prospects to fight for the podium at Silverstone this weekend.

“I had a dream and in my dream Maverick Vinales got pole position somewhere,” podcast host and Crash social media manager Jordan Moreland said.

“I think Maverick is going to really surprise people this weekend and I think he is actually going to get pole position.

“He has a really good record previously. He won his first ever MotoGP race around here on the Suzuki, was very strong on the Yamaha here a few times.

“He was strong in ’19 and he was strong in ’22 when he took the fight to Pecco Bagnaia for the win. It was the first time on the Aprilia that you went ‘wow, Maverick’s really woken up here and found his groove’.

“He’s been on a really good run of form on the KTM recently. He’s been in that sort of fifth, fourth mould constantly, and this is a circuit he does like.

“So, I do think Maverick will be someone to keep an eye on. I do think that pole position might come out of the somewhere because MotoGP has surprised us the past few weeks.

“Fabio Quartararo has delivered stunning laps. Maybe we can have another surprise with Maverick getting on the front row.

“But I do think he will be inside the top four in at least one of the races and he’s showing that he’s leading that project along with comment and his direction. He’s found a bike he’s kind of made his own.”

Crash MotoGP Editor Peter McLaren added: “He’s got that consistency. We were thinking a few races back ‘can he keep this going?’ And in fairness to him he has in all conditions: in qualifying, in the dry, the wet, he’s been fast in all of those.

“The other KTMs, maybe not so much Enea Bastianini, but certainly Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder seem to have moved in his direction.

“They’ve gone with his set-up and that’s a major credit to credit, coming into this bike, being a new guy on this bike.

“He seems to have really dialled it into something that works consistently. Silverstone, why not?

“We know he’s gone well there in the past. We know the KTM’s got a very strong engine. They’re going to welcome the long straights that Silverstone’s got.

“I think we can expect to see him qualifying on the front two rows again and then you’re in the fight for the podium and then who knows? It wouldn’t surprise me if Maverick gets the podium he should have had in Qatar.”

Crash Senior Journalist Lewis Duncan says: “I don’t think it’s a surprise anymore. I think we are now at the point where Maverick is clearly the better rider on the KTM right now, certainly whatever he has found just works for him and his riding style.

“Silverstone is a great track for him. At the very least somewhere in the top five, that’s where Maverick is going to be, if not a little bit better than that.

“We know the KTM is a bit of a rocket ship in a straight line and Silverstone is a good place to be able to have that.

“We know one of the issues has stemmed from this bike is that KTM really tried to work to cure drive grip, which then took away from the braking.

“Whatever Maverick seems to be doing has sort of found a happier middle ground. With that confidence, with that speed in all conditions, don’t rule out Maverick for a podium. That’s not an unrealistic expectation anymore.”