KTM director shares the ‘sacrifice’ he made to make Brad Binder’s MotoGP bike faster.

Ducati’s Marc Marquez is suffering a race-ending hole in the Thai GP after suffering wheel rim damage, while Aprilia pilot Marco Bezeci crashed out of the lead in the Buriram sprint to help KTM and Acosta They held their early positions at the top of the teams and riders’ standings.

in addition, “I didn’t feel like a winner,” Acosta said after the Buriram Sprint. When Marquez received a penalty, he inherited the lead from the last corner on the last lap. Marquez Acosta was ordered down one place after forcing him wide on the final lap of the sprint.

Did Marc Marquez’s sprint penalty make it too low for the racing conditions in MotoGP?

KTM ‘paid’ top speed to improve overall lap time of RC16 in 2026

Acosta fought off Sprint winner Marquez for all 13-lap races, and battled Ducati ace and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez to claim P2 in the Thai GP, due to less tire wear. Binder moved up from P11 in both races.

Read more: Everything you need to know about KTM Tech3, including MotoGP team riders

However, technical director Reiss KTM didn’t focus on improving the RC16’s tire wear, giving Binder and Acosta a better bike. Instead, their priority was to improve the RC16’s overall lap times, even if KTM had to sacrifice some of their famous top speed to be quicker elsewhere.

Rice said Fast weekWe’ve taken many small steps, decided on a direction around the summer break of 2025, and consistently pursued it.

“It sounds so simple, but the goal is always to make the bike faster. The focus is always on improving lap time, not tire wear.”

Rice added: “One thing led to another. There are many ways to get faster. One of them is to go faster on the straights, reduce the power peaks a bit and also sacrifice some speed.”

It was only the fifth fastest top speed recorded by a KTM rider in Buriram.

Do you consider Pedro Acosta a MotoGP winner?

Tech3 rider Enea Bastianini set the fastest top speed on a KTM RC16 at the Thailand GP event. However, the 342.8 km/h (213 mph) recorded during practice was only the fifth fastest top speed at Buriram, where Aprilia riders claimed three of the four fastest top speeds.

Factory Aprilia duo Bezecchi and Jorge Martin both recorded 345 km/h (214.3 mph) in Q2, which works Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia managed to achieve in practice. Trackhouse’s I Ogura also recorded a speed of 343.9 km/h (213.6 mph) on his Aprilia to Bastianini.

LCR rider Yohan Zarco Bastianini achieved the same top speed aboard the Honda RC213V as he did on the KTM RC16. Still Works KTM rider Acosta’s top speed was only eighth fastest (341.7 km/h, 212.3 mph), and Binder’s was 339.6 km/h (211 mph).