Brno MotoGP podiums “bubble of oxygen” for KTM | “This retired guy is fast!”

Pol Espargaro’s surprise return to the MotoGP grid at Brno, filling in for the injured Maverick Vinales, coincided with KTM’s most successful weekend of the 2025 season so far.

While Espargaro overcame poor starts, while testing a new launch system, to finish ninth in both the Sprint and Grand Prix, Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini delivered KTM’s long-awaited first podiums of the season.

“A lot of things came together this weekend,” factory test rider Pol Espargaro said during the Brno event. “Historically, we are fast here.

“I was very quick with the used tyre [5th place] in FP2. This helped all the guys think, ‘OK, this retired guy is fast! We can go faster than him!’"

The high-grip Brno layout suited KTM’s RC16, which has often struggled to generate mechanical grip compared to Ducati.

“The track is super grippy. Ducati [can] mechanically generate this grip and we struggle a bit more than them. So when we have this [high] natural grip with the track we can use it to be fast," Espargaro said.

“Our bike works super good in these conditions. I’m very pleased for myself, but especially the factory.”

Acosta finished second in the Sprint and third in the Grand Prix. Bastianini grabbed third in the Sprint before crashing out of Sunday’s race, when Espargaro took the chequered flag in the wheeltracks of former Brno winner Brad Binder.

“Three KTMs in the top ten, which is amazing," Espargaro said.

Pol Espargaro heaps praise on Pedro Acosta

The Brno breakthrough also saw KTM’s first rostrums since a turbulent winter that included a financial crisis serious enough to cast doubt on the company’s future in the sport.

“Those were tough times all winter,” Espargaro said. “For the guys in Mattighofen, this is a big bubble of oxygen for all of us.

“The CEO [Gottfried Neumeister] was here enjoying the racing with us, knowing that when we do good things, the results are coming. 

"This is something fantastic for the whole of KTM.”

Espargaro also praised Acosta, seventh in the world championship heading into the summer break.

“He’s a fighter. A young talent with a lot of power. He wants to win... and sometimes you have to accept that you don’t have the same tools as the others, but believe you will have them soon.

“Because we are working hard, and soon we are going to deliver some good things to the factory guys.”

The veteran believes the Brno form can be maintained, especially with upcoming rounds in Austria and Hungary, circuits that he also thinks will suit the RC16.

“I believe so. There are some updates about to come on the bike that are promising. We put a lot of effort into the test team.

“The next two races in Austria and Hungary are promising. I’m pretty positive for the second part of the year.”

Meanwhile, Espargaro does not expect to race again this season unless Vinales’ recovery takes longer than forecast.

“I hope not, because that means Maverick is not fit, and Maverick here would have done an amazing job here,” he said of Vinales’ ongoing recovery from a Sachsenring shoulder injury.

“I hope you will see me, but with the microphone, because that means Maverick is back racing.”

Espargaro will now return to his role as a KTM MotoGP test rider alongside Dani Pedrosa and continue media duties with Spanish TV.