Sizzling 2nd place for Acosta at Thai MotoGP as Red Bull KTM lead the world championship

Red Bull KTM kicked off their tenth season of MotoGP Grand Prix racing through the demanding Thai heat with Pedro Acosta earning a brilliant runner-up result. 91,455 spectators on-site watched the opening chapter of the 22-round series where the team and brand walked away as world championship leaders for the first time.

(photo from Pedro Acosta’s facebook page)

Highlights and key moments from race day at the Chang International Circuit:

• – Pedro Acosta adds a confident runner-up Grand Prix finish to his Sprint victory from Saturday to lead MotoGP by seven points.
• – Brad Binder is the next highest classifier on the KTM RC16 at Buriram with P7 through difficult conditions for the machinery and the tires
• – Valentin Perrone walks the Moto3™ podium with 3rd place on the Red Bull KTM Tech3 RC4 as Alvaro Carpe finishes a close 4th for Red Bull KTM Ajo

Scorching sunshine, sticky air and high temperatures created a typically draining Thai Grand Prix in the city of Buriram. 2026 marked the second year in a row that MotoGP launched at the packed Chang International Circuit, 300km north of Bangkok. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and Red Bull KTM Tech3 started from qualifying slots on the second, third, sixth and seventh rows of the grid.

Pedro Acosta

Pedro Acosta began the 26-lap chase from P6 and with his confidence high, less than 24 hours after he grabbed victory in the Saturday Sprint. The Spaniard had to work his way past two riders to reach 3rd place and then hunted P2 in what was an eye-catching display of overtaking and tire management. Pedro ended the weekend with 1-2 scores and 32 points to sit at the top of the standings. He now has four podiums from the last six rounds of MotoGP, stretching back to Indonesia 2025.

Brad Binder was busy in a close second group where the South African had to sustain grip and be cautious of tire pressures. Brad kept a solid pace to improve on his 2025 position in Thailand thanks to his P7. He occupies P6 in the early championship table.  Enea Bastianini persevered for the race duration and used his skill in administering the best traction from the tire/set-up package to make his way from P19 on the grid to P12. Maverick Viñales had a tough first lap when he ran wide into Turn 12 but he also completed the distance and arrived back to the box with P16.

Brad Binder

Round two will venture to Brazilian shores for the first time since 2004. The Autódromo Internacional Ayrton Senna in Goiania will be the scene for the next episode of MotoGP on March 20-22.

Pedro Acosta, 2nd and 1st in the championship: “We’re not only leading the world championship for a day! The team is working super-good. We struggled so much here last year and this time we made back-to-back podiums. We have to be happy. Thanks to all at KTM; all the people back there must have been pushing for us in the early morning. Thanks to everyone at home who has been supporting me. We made good.”

Brad Binder, 7th and 6th in the championship: “Happy on one hand but on the other I’d like more than a 7th. We’re going step-by-step and moving forwards because it was good to be in Q2 directly on Friday and both races were pretty good. We’ve made a step with consistency. Today was a lot more challenging than the Sprint. The bike clearly has the potential, so we’ll keep working and try to catch up to Pedro.”

Enea Bastianini, 12th and 13th in the championship: “A complicated race because there was a lot of movement on the straight that was hard to manage. That problem aside I think we improved a bit over Saturday but not enough. My expectations were higher for this race compared to last year and we need to change our work a bit.”

Maverick Viñales, 16th and 18th in the championship: “We tried different things during Warm-up but the result was the same as Saturday and I missed front grip. In the test I had felt better but it was getting a bit worse each day this weekend. I was very slow in mid-corner and missing the turns. It was very strange. We need to forget this weekend and work for the next one.”

Aki Ajo, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “A win and a podium this weekend means we have to be very happy with the work, both by the team and the riders but also the factory after a busy winter. We made an obvious improvement from 2025. This race can be difficult for a few factors and I think we approached the weekend in the right way and showed some good early potential. Of course, there is still work to do and we can see the results for all four riders were quite different but this is the first GP of a long championship. Congratulations to Pedro, it is really good to begin the season with this positive feeling.”

credit: KTM