KTM shuts down “completely crazy” Red Bull-to-Honda rumours
KTM has signed a new deal with Red Bull
KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer says a new sponsorship deal with Red Bull has been signed amid rumours of a “completely crazy” split claiming the drinks firm could join Honda.
Red Bull has been KTM’s title sponsor for over 20 years, having first partnered with the Austrian brand in 2003 in its off-road racing exploits before following it into the grand prix paddock.
In 2025, both KTM teams in MotoGP are backed by Red Bull, with the energy drinks firm crucial in helping the marque carry on with its racing activities this year following its major financial crisis in the winter.
With KTM’s future secured through new majority ownership from Bajaj Auto, the MotoGP project looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
But earlier this week, a report emerged from GPOne claiming that Red Bull could quit KTM to become title partner at Honda from next season.
Pit Beirer has shut these rumours down now and says KTM's deal with Red Bull has been renewed for the “long-term”.
“Thank God not, and just already thinking about that just would be completely crazy,” he told the MotoGP world feed when asked if there was truth to the Red Bull split rumours.
“We have actually even much better news than this.
“Just a couple of days ago our contract got renewed with them and this is such a lasting partnership since 2003, starting in off-road side, we could carry that over into the road racing side.
“And if you think back to what happened last winter, without our friends at Red Bull we could just not have managed to keep all the projects alive on that level and keep performing, winning Dakar, winning motocross, supercross races and still performing in MotoGP.
“So, that partnership for us means much more than a contract.
“The rumours, I don’t know where they were coming from, but the contract is renewed, we are super happy and we are not talking about one year or this or that. No, it’s a long-term partnership.”
Honda's long-standing title partnership with Repsol came to an end in 2024, with its factory team sponsored by Castrol this year.
KTM has enjoyed a boost in form of late after a largely difficult 2025 campaign, with it returning to the podium at the Czech Grand Prix.
Updates to the RC16 provided a further performance boost at the Austrian Grand Prix, with Pedro Acosta claiming a sprint podium and fourth in the grand prix.
