Jack Miller delivers brutal assessment of Yamaha’s Red Bull Ring issues as KTM underline MotoGP commitment
Yamaha endured a bruising Red Bull Ring weekend, with all four of its bikes finishing in the bottom five and Jack Miller delivering the bluntest assessment of any rider in the paddock.
Fabio Quartararo’s (Monster Energy Yamaha) qualifying lap was a rare highlight. “What he did in quali is nothing short of a miracle,” said Miller (Pramac Yamaha) of the Frenchman’s ninth place.
But those brief positives were overwhelmed on Sunday by a chronic lack of top speed – the M1 gave away 8mph through the speed trap – and considerable difficulties with its electronics set-up, which caused near terminal rear tyre wear. “It’s not a day I even want to think about,” said a despondent Miller. “It’s embarrassing doing 1m 38s (at the end). That’s a f**king Bagger time. But at the end of the day, here to do a job. Today the job was 21st f**king position.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu was another Yamaha rider left frustrated by tyre woes at the stop/go Red Bull Ring layout, saying, “I‘m very frustrated because I still don‘t understand what happened today. Normally, with a new tyre, the first laps are when you have the most grip and can really push, but from the beginning I had almost no rear grip. I was already struggling in the first few laps, and every time I opened the throttle I was just spinning. It was very difficult to understand how I could manage the bike like that. Usually, if the tyre starts to drop after several laps, you can understand what is happening and adapt your riding. Today, I had the problem from the beginning, so I lost a lot of time straight away and could never find a good rhythm. I was basically just trying to finish the race because I was not enjoying riding the bike at all.”
While Yamaha was left searching for answers, Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM) could finally call himself a MotoGP race winner after recovering from a disastrous Saturday to calmly disarm a triple Aprilia challenge for a maiden premier class success at the Red Bull Ring.
The confident manner in which he brought his KTM home on Sunday was at odds with the pre-race build up. While fastest in both of Friday’s sessions for the first time, the young Spaniard had crashed out of the lead in almost comical circumstances in the Sprint after looking down at his dashboard when he should have been braking for Turn 2. A Warm-Up fall the next morning did little to assuage any pre-race fears.
There was serious baggage hanging around Acosta’s neck come the race. Could a rider that had 15 MotoGP podiums – more than anyone else in history without actually winning a premier class race – hold his nerve?
If not, there would be reason to throw around the old claim the 22-year-old was prone to collapsing in his most promising MotoGP moments, as Japan, 2024 and qualifying in Hungary, 2025 had shown. Even if Acosta said losing “would change nothing,” there was a sense that failure to do so would haunt factory and rider for some time.
But there could be no faulting Acosta’s maturity when it mattered. Recovering from a poor start, he calmly picked his way through a lead quartet of Aprilia Racing duo Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin, Ai Ogura (Trackhouse Aprilia) and Marc Marquez (Lenovo Ducati) to control the majority of the 28-lap race.
Rear tyre consumption had been a factor all weekend long. Aprilia’s RS-GP has shown itself superior when grip deteriorates. And even when Acosta’s lead exceeded one second for the first time on lap 20, nerves remained as the three Aprilias loomed in the background. In truth, he was minimising risk, trying to win at the slowest possible speed.
Rolling off his bike to feign a crash at Turn 2 on the cool down lap showed his sense of humor had survived the chastening experience the previous day. “After the most ridiculous f**k up of my career, there was no other way,” he stated.
The Red Bull Ring’s brake-heavy layout clearly played to the KTM RC16’s strengths from Friday morning. So, too, did Michelin’s heat resistant rear tyre with a stiffer carcass, rolled out for the first time since Brazil. “Its (lack of grip) is helping us to not push the front,” said Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM). Add to that, Acosta had been riding at the highest level over the past month. “He’s been carrying the team and making things look a hell of a lot better than they are,” added the South African.
That it came in KTM’s home race was all the more fitting. Efforts had been made to frame a recovery narrative at the Austrian factory’s home event. Motorsport Director Pit Beirer had spoken of how engine reliability issues had “almost killed” the factory during a tricky midseason spell.
And CEO Gottfried Neumeister boasted of profitable first and second quarters for the first time since the company’s financial meltdown in 2024. “A really great sign (and a) great relief,” he said. Plus, there was full commitment to the MotoGP programme. “We’ve signed the five-year deal with Dorna, it’s very clear we will not sell the team, we will not sell a little part of the team. We’re fully committed.
“The MotoGP title is one of the few titles we have not yet won, and we’re clear here to win – not for an equity increase.” A first MotoGP victory in 1,449 days – and first in dry conditions in 1,932 – backed up his statements nicely.
The weekend belonged to KTM. But Aprilia could also reflect on a job well done. Martin, in particular, gained fresh momentum in his championship quest. After early sparring with Marquez in the Sprint, he recovered to pass six riders before benefiting from Acosta’s crash. It was one of the few times all season he’s shown the speed to suggest he could yet be this year’s champion. Sunday’s second place was assured and stretched his championship lead back out to 12 points.
The arm pump issues that surfaced in Misano weren’t evident here. Crucially, this performance convinced Martin to steer clear of the operating theatre ahead of Japan. “Everything went super good, so it seems we are going to avoid surgery,” he said. “Now the fight is on for the rest of the season. I think we’re ready.”
Michelin’s tyre allocation also seemed to destabilise Ducati, who couldn’t apply its power to the ground without excessive spin. Marquez was the only name capable of going with Acosta and the Aprilias. But the 33-year-old wore a face of thunder after being comprehensively beaten by Martin on Saturday. And he never looked comfortable the following day.
After a subdued opening, a huge moment into Turn 1 saw him lose ground to Ogura, Binder and Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Ducati). Marquez later explained his front brake was at fault. “The front lever was inconsistent. When I had the mistake in Turn 1, I braked and there was nothing there. But from one lap to another, it started to work.” He went on to salvage fifth place. But it no doubt worried Ducati to see its fold of riders struggle so considerably at a track it once all-but-owned. And with Aprilia responding with such force, Martin’s words are not to be ignored.
