It’s been a fine recent few rounds for KTM; the Austrian manufacturer has been in the podium fight regularly since Aragon but the fruits of their hard work are starting to blossom with another podium for Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) at Balaton Park. A second Sunday in three with a rostrum bagged, that’s not the only headline as teammate Brad Binder was also back in the top eight across the last four rounds, as well as Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) fighting for the top three and bagging a Sprint rostrum at Brno.

SEASON OF TWO HALVES: then and now in orange

It was a tricky start to 2025 for KTM with Acosta crashing in the opening round before scraping into the top ten in Argentina; Binder was more consistent but it was a matter of grinding results out for the KTM pairing. In the Tech 3 camp, the opening three rounds saw struggles – particularly in qualifying – before Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) showed how competitive the bike could be at Lusail and Jerez.

Aragon was a turning point for the project with both Acosta and Binder fighting for a top four placing and whilst Binder fell, it was a sign that progress has been made. Mugello was difficult whilst Assen saw a combative Acosta battle for the podium, it now not being far away after being the only manufacturer in the first half of 2025 to not have one. It came at Brno with Acosta on Sunday but both the #37 and Bastianini managed to snatch one in Saturday’s Sprint too. Since then, Acosta’s pace has been the best of them, with another Sprint podium at the Red Bull Ring paired with P4 on Sunday before a P2 on Sunday at Balaton moved him into fifth overall in the standings.

Elated after a second Sunday podium in three GPs, Acosta said: “Everything was feeling quite easy on Friday but then after the qualifying crash, everything was getting worse until the Warm Up. Thanks to the mechanics who built two new bikes both days, they saved my weekend. I’m super happy, we’ve done a solid race and made solid progression since Brno and for this, I think we shouldn’t have expectation but we keep going in this direction and we’re working quite OK. We have to be happy because we improved a lot.”

BINDER: “We’re in for a good second half… there’s still a lot more to come”

However, he wasn’t the only KTM rider sharing his success, with Binder explaining the big improvement: “I think the last three GPs have been the best of the season so far, especially the last two. Everything starting to roll and feel back to normal. The bike is working incredibly well and I think we’re in for a good second half of the year. We’ve found much more front margin and we can all push on a little bit and it’s a lot safer because the front is a lot more solid. The bike in general is working better, turning better, the front’s hooking up better and we’re stopping well so in general, I think we’re entire package made a step forward and there’s still a lot more to come.”

ESPARGARO: “As soon as you get one result, everyone gets pumped!”

Behind both, super sub Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), likewise adding to the KTM momentum with P8 in Hungary: “We’ve worked a lot in the background with the test team, everything that we’re delivering, the guys like it. They feel good, they feel confident and as soon as you get one result, everyone gets pumped and this is the vicious circle of good things coming. The guys are enjoying, I’m enjoying and hopefully Maverick will be back on his best soon.”

Can KTM continue their form and dream even bigger with eight rounds remaining? Who’d bet against some flyway magic – certainly not us!