What we learned at MotoGP’s Austrian GP

Fears of a dull second half to this year’s Marc Marquez romp towards a seventh MotoGP title proved – for now, at least – entirely unfounded in Austria.

Sure, the usual suspect won both the sprint and the grand prix, but he did have various challenges to deal with, while others dared to dream. Controversial new technology made its debut, while at least one team’s work over the summer bore fruit.

There was a buzz off the circuit, too, with rider announcements on the horizon and a certain double world champion with a lot to say…

The jury is out on stability control

The arrival of MotoGP’s new stability control system on Friday got paddock tongues wagging. Nearly every rider was questioned about the new software, which reacts to the rear tyre stepping out of line and is designed to reduce the chance of hurtful high-sides. Most of the racers shrugged, but Marquez and Pedro Acosta came out against the system, echoing the popular fan criticism that it would reduce the skilled inputs required of riders.

On Friday, retired double world champion Casey Stoner spoke at length about his dislike for the system, saying MotoGP was “creating a world championship for engineers” and that it was repeating past errors made by Formula 1, such as traction control and other driver aids.

Then, as we got deeper into the weekend, talk of the stability control system went quiet. It emerged that some riders and teams weren’t using it at all, or at least not all the time. Many felt that it brought no advantage at a stop-go track like the Red Bull Ring.

Following his latest grand prix victory on Sunday, even Marquez appeared to have softened his stance slightly. While he was speaking about Ducati electronics rather than the new system in particular, the world championship leader said: “You cannot use electronics to be fast – only to be safer and to be more consistent. But if you want to use electronics to be fast… you are not on a good way.”

The smartest conclusion to reach after the first weekend of the stability control system era is that it’s too early to judge this technology. It’s a question for longer debriefs that include engineers – and best done after September’s Misano test at the earliest.  

Marquez may have mentored Aldeguer a little too well

Fermin Aldeguer is close to both of the Marquez brothers. And after Sunday’s race in Austria, you’d be forgiven for thinking Marc, in particular, is starting to rub off on the rookie. When an unexpected Gresini Ducati came roaring up behind him in the closing stages of the grand prix, the six-time MotoGP champion might have rued the mentorship he’d provided to its 20-year-old rider.

Aldeguer arguably did a more impressive job than Marc’s average Sunday ride. While Marquez typically operates near the front, with a fundamental speed advantage, as he safeguards his rubber, Aldeguer had to come through from the ninth place he held shortly after the start

The most notable Marc trait on display with that late charge was the state of Aldeguer’s tyres. He was at least as fast as the factory Ducati come the end of the race – and how many have been able to say that this season? One of the pillars of Marc’s success in 2025 has been managing his tyres so that nobody can live with him in the final third of a grand prix. But this time, someone could.

Aldeguer arguably did a more impressive job than Marc’s average Sunday ride. While Marquez typically operates near the front, with a fundamental speed advantage, as he safeguards his rubber, Aldeguer had to come through from the ninth place he held shortly after the start. It was a situation ripe for a youngster to cook his tyres, but the Murcian – helped by having practised with the high tyre pressures expected in traffic – managed to pass champions and winners while doing the opposite.

Marquez knew he had to worry when Aldeguer appeared on his pitboard. As he pointed out after the race: “Yesterday we analysed between the Ducati riders and Fermin was the one who keeps the tyre life best.”

The MotoGP rookie claimed his second podium of the season in Austria

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Aldeguer himself couldn’t offer a clear explanation of what he’d done right in terms of tyre management in Austria. The best he could do was vaguely put it down to his riding style. But, as his more experienced team-mate Alex Marquez pointed out: “He did an amazing job, we saw it in Austin already…it depends on the track. Because at some tracks he’s using a lot of tyre… so [he’s] not really constant on that.”

He might not be ready to produce such tyre-whispering form everywhere, then, but you can be sure Aldeguer will suck up every last bit of Marc Marquez advice in his quest to do so. Just as long as those tips keep coming…

Following a solid return to MotoGP action at the Czech Grand Prix just before the summer break, it’s now clear that a holiday was not enough to magic Jorge Martin back to his usual heights in the pecking order. 

Both factory Aprilia riders had a hard time on Friday and failed to make it directly into Q2. But while Marco Bezzecchi turned things around fast, securing pole position and then a podium in the grand prix, Martin’s level on day one proved a more genuine indication of where he is right now.

For the record, the Spaniard qualified 14th and finished the sprint 10th. He had a good start to the grand prix, briefly nosing into the top 10, but quickly dropped back. He was running a lowly 15th when he crashed out of the race in worrying fashion at Turn 7. 

Given the litany of injuries Martin has dealt with in recent months, it was with grave concern that the world watched on as he took time to gather himself after the shunt. Thankfully Martin was undamaged but, as he confirmed afterwards, he did suffer for a few moments.

The reigning champion continued a very troublesome 2025 by crashing out in Austria

Photo by: Aprilia Racing

“As soon as I crashed, I was like, ‘No, no, no, no, no’, it’s one of the worst places to crash here. And yeah, the airbag exploded and I had so much pain in my ribs and everything. So I couldn’t breathe.

“Then, after half a minute, I started to feel better and finally everything is okay. I could race tomorrow.”

He went on to state that there was no underlying hangover from his most recent crash, at April’s Qatar Grand Prix, and that he was fully fit. “Now I can confirm that my injury from Qatar is already 100% recovered,” said Martin.

“I like him. Diogo is a very talented rider in everything: motocross, flat track, Moto2, speed. I’m very happy for him. I think he’s having the best moment of his life, of his racing career. He has the opportunity to move up to MotoGP and is winning races” Fabio Quartararo

In other words, the gap between Bezzecchi and Martin is primarily down to the lack of mileage the 27-year-old has had on this machine. He will still need a race or three to find his confidence aboard the RS-GP. 

Asked earlier in the weekend if he had a target for when he might reach his full potential, he was reluctant – but then mentioned favourite tracks Mandalika and Phillip Island. Watch this space.

MotoGP is ready for Diogo Moreira

It’s looking more and more likely that MotoGP will once again have a Brazilian rider on the grid next year. Diogo Moreira winning the Moto2 race on Sunday certainly did nothing to quieten speculation that he will step up to either Pramac Yamaha or LCR Honda in 2026.

Moreira, who is currently third in the Moto2 standings, is primed to make his MotoGP debut in 2026

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

The rider is understood to have offers from both manufacturers and was inevitably pestered about the matter in his Moto2 press briefings. 

“Yes, the offer is there. So maybe this weekend I will sit with my manager to look at the offer,” he admitted. “I think after Hungary, more or less, we will have some ideas – so let’s see.”

He also dismissed the idea of waiting for the new rules set in 2027 before making his step up to the premier category. 

“I want to go to MotoGP,” he added. “If I have the offer and the opportunity to go and a good contract, for sure I will go.”

Moreira has backing in high places. Yamaha’s lead factory rider Fabio Quartararo tried to be diplomatic given the delicate situation around Pramac riders Miguel Oliveira and Jack Miller. But the 2021 world champion was nonetheless positive when asked about potentially having Moreira in the Yamaha family.

“Yes, something new,” said Quartararo, also conceding that Moreira’s arrival at Yamaha “would be good”.

“I like him. Diogo is a very talented rider in everything: motocross, flat track, Moto2, speed. I’m very happy for him. I think he’s having the best moment of his life, of his racing career. He has the opportunity to move up to MotoGP and is winning races.”

Quartararo would be supportive of Yamaha signing Moreira

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

KTM MotoGP star Pedro Acosta added more praise: “The guy is super talented for sure. You only have to see his videos doing flat track or motocross or supermoto, whatever. I mean, he’s fast in all disciplines… for sure, if he comes to MotoGP, he will do well because talent is talent and you cannot forget that. 

“I don’t think he will be that competitive from the first day. But sooner or later, like Toprak, he will be competitive.”

If LCR Honda is Moreira’s destination, he would likely replace the struggling – and currently injured – Somkiat Chantra.

Casey Stoner loathes MotoGP’s sprint format

Friday presented a rare chance for a chat with the two-time world champion, who was making an appearance at a MotoGP event in order to take part in Sunday’s historic demonstration run. The Australian duly obliged with some forthright views on the current state of the world championship. 

“This is the world championship. It shouldn’t be just a little entertaining race that you still get points for. It’s just ridiculous in my opinion, especially the fact that you know you have a sprint race which is for entertainment and yet points are still paid” Casey Stoner

While much of the discussion revolved around technology and rider aids, particularly the topical stability control system, Stoner also offered praise for Marc Marquez’s achievements, talked about safety issues and criticised aspects of MotoGP’s governance. In addition, he came out strongly against the current format of running a sprint at every race meeting. 

“This is the world championship. It shouldn’t be just a little entertaining race that you still get points for,” said Stoner.

“It’s just ridiculous in my opinion, especially the fact that you know you have a sprint race which is for entertainment and yet points are still paid. And everybody has to be very careful in them because even though they’re a bit chaotic, realistically the main race is the next day and you shouldn’t be taking the same risks. 

Casey Stoner, 2007 and 2011 MotoGP champion, was vocal over the Austrian weekend

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

“I find it puzzling. I understand Formula 1 has done [sprints at] six or eight races or something. But to do it every single weekend is just… I’m confused. I don’t think we need to.”

Stoner also suggested that part of the problem with overtaking in MotoGP is down to the fact that riders aren’t getting a chance to prepare their bikes for race conditions. 

“There’s no testing – everybody’s just going for lap times, trying to get inside that top 10. And now that everyone’s just pushing for a lap time, that’s why we see that people are sort of struggling in the races to stay near each other as well. Because they haven’t been able to spend any time actually setting up the bike for the main race.”

As Aldeguer showed in Austria, however, there is still some scope to prepare. Going out of his way to run high tyre pressures in practice reaped big rewards on Sunday. Could that be a strategy others might copy?

KTM’s progress is real

First it was Aprilia, now it’s KTM. After the Japanese manufacturers briefly threatened to take the fight to Ducati early in the season, the Europeans have now firmly established themselves as challengers-in-chief.

Aprilia, initially as a one-man team in the absence of Jorge Martin, began turning its season around at Le Mans and has steadily improved since. KTM, which has also had its share of off-track dramas in view of its financial fix, needed to wait longer. It was only in the Czech Republic, one race ago, that a clear step could be detected. 

KTM is fighting Aprilia to finish runner-up to Ducati in the constructors’ standings

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

More significant than the marginal improvement by Acosta was the performance leap taken by Tech3’s Enea Bastianini, who had been almost invisible until the visit to Moravia. The question then was whether the Austrian manufacturer could back that up on home ground.

At Spielberg, the answer to that was a firm ‘yes’. KTM built on its Brno foundation by bringing aero updates – ones that really worked. Acosta was glowing in his praise of it on Friday, mentioning how well the bike turned and what this would mean for tyre life. Sure enough, all three fit KTM riders – Maverick Vinales gets a free pass on this one – made it into Q2. Bastianini, Acosta and Binder lined up fifth, seventh and 11th respectively – and all might have been better if they hadn’t pushed beyond the limits.

Acosta was proven right on the tyre front, too, as there was no dramatic drop in performance during the races. In these, he led the KTM brigade, with a third in the sprint and fourth in the grand prix.

While all of that only gets Acosta back to the kind of level he was at on the Tech3 bike in 2024, it’s worth noting that the Red Bull Ring was not the best track for the new aero package to have made a major difference. Ditto the slow Balaton Park next weekend. Barcelona, which follows the Hungarian round, may see the orange crew get closer to its peak potential.

Balaton Park is set to make its MotoGP debut next

Photo by: Balaton Park