KTM RC16 races world’s fastest drone at Austrian MotoGP circuit

Ahead of this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP, Jonas Folger pitted his KTM RC16 against Red Bull’s Drone 1.

The drone from the Austrian energy drinks company is touted as the fastest in the world, with a claimed top speed of 217mph, which is practically motionless compared to the 227mph MotoGP record set by KTM’s Brad Binder in the 2023 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

The Red Bull Ring is one of the fastest circuits on the MotoGP schedule in terms of average speed, but the straights are short enough to prevent outright speed records from being set in Styria, which in this case helps the drone keep up with Jonas Folger – the third member of KTM’s all-star MotoGP testing roster alongside Pol Espargaro and Dani Pedrosa.

The drone certainly puts in a respectable performance, but of course it’s a race it can never win because if the bike is behind the drone then it’s behind the camera and you don’t need to be a content expert to understand that that doesn’t really work.

This is not the first appearance for Red Bull’s Drone 1 in a motorsport setting. It was involved in the Red Bull F1 team’s filming day at Silverstone earlier this year, trailing four-time World Champion Max Verstappen in the RB21.

Last year, the drone made its circuit debut at Jerez, where it was used to film a Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup test.

This weekend, the RC16 is up against much stiffer competition, with Ducati’s MotoGP points leader Marc Marquez entering the weekend on a five-race win streak and aboard a Desmosedici that has won nine of the 11 races run at the Red Bull Ring since it returned to the calendar in 2016.