KTM “didn’t give up on” struggling MotoGP duo, "it's up to us"

KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer says the brand “didn’t give up on” Brad Binder or Enea Bastianini as they struggled for form across the first half of MotoGP 2025.

The Austrian manufacturer has endured a turbulent year, with a company financial crisis acting as a backdrop to a largely underwhelming 2025 MotoGP campaign in the opening 12 rounds.

It took until the 12th round at Brno for KTM to officially register a podium, after Pedro Acosta was third in the grand prix.

Tech3’s Maverick Vinales was second in Qatar, but was stripped of this due to a tyre pressure penalty after the race.

Vinales has generally been the leading KTM rider, having figured out first that a smoother style suits the 2025 RC16 more, with Acosta eventually following in his footsteps in terms of bike set-up.

KTM stuck by their struggling two riders

But Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini have both suffered, with the former achieving a best of sixth at the Spanish Grand Prix, while the latter’s highlight was a third in the Czech Grand Prix sprint.

Beirer has defended both riders, though, and says the onus is on KTM to help get them to the level they are capable of being at.

“We are definitely not happy with the performance we are having together, Brad and ourselves,” Beirer said during the German Grand Prix weekend.

“He struggles more to get this package to work and that’s now our job to give him this confidence back.

“The class is so dynamic and every year the bike gets faster and faster, and also you need to adapt your riding style.

“And then you do steps to the bike that are maybe not fitting to one rider and that’s what we’re facing with Brad.

“He’s just not getting the feeling he needs to ride to his performance and we had nobody really happy and performing.

“Through Maverick we were able to get him happy and performing, the we could get Pedro there to also find a way now to use the package and he is super strong lately.

“And we didn’t give up on the other two boys.

“Enea definitely doesn’t feel comfortable to give their performance, and it’s the same for Brad.

“So, it’s up to us to give them the tools to feel comfortable because in this class without confidence you cannot compete.

“So, we know clearly we need to give Brad a hand and he will bring us a step. I feel we made some progress lately.”

KTM currently sits third in the manufacturers’ standings, 12 points behind Aprilia and 28 clear of Honda.

Acosta is its best-placed rider in the championship in seventh on 124 points, with Vinales 11th, Binder 12th and Bastianini 17th.