"La Bestia" is coming

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Enea Bastianini will join KTM.(Bild: AFP/APA/LLUIS GENE)

The KTM MotoGP team has repositioned itself for next season. As the company from Upper Austria announced on Thursday, it has signed two absolute top-class riders for the Tech3 team: Italian Enea Bastianini and Spaniard Maverick Vinales.

Bastianini is currently fourth in the world championship standings and Vinales sixth. It was already known that super talent Pedro Acosta will move up to the KTM factory team, where he will ride alongside Brad Binder in 2025.

Strengthening the brand
Bastianini (nicknamed "La Bestia") has been in MotoGP since 2021 and has won five races with Ducati so far, with the 26-year-old finishing third in the 2022 World Championship. Spaniard Vinales (29) has achieved 26 victories and 26 pole positions and finished third in the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. He is currently on an Aprilia.

Maverick Vinales(Bild: 2024 Getty Images)

In principle, all four riders will have the same bike and will sport the same orange KTM livery. GasGas will disappear from MotoGP again - to strengthen the KTM brand.

"We are very happy that we were able to bring both Enea and Maverick into our MotoGP project and give them full factory support so that they can continue to pursue their goals and reach their maximum performance," said KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer, emphasizing: "It is clear that we are talking about two of the fastest riders in the world, and it is a compliment that they trust us and the first-class operation we have built."