KTM’s Maverick Vinales stripped from P2 after Kamikaze attack on Ducati’s in 2025 Qatar GP

For the first time in many years, the KTM MotoGP team has challenged the mighty Ducati team with Maverick Vinales. The KTM Tech 3 rider lit up the Lusail circuit in the Qatar Grand Prix with a kamikaze attack on the Ducatis. This was surprising for the Italian team, as their team principal, Davide Tardozzi, and manager, Luigi Dall’Igna, looked in awe at Vinales.

He was going quickly at the same pace as Marc Marquez on a Ducati. Maverick Vinales was quicker than Francesco Bagnaia, who is also riding a factory Ducati bike. The former Yamaha rider was so quick with his KTM RC16, which flew like a rocket unleashed.

In Lap 11, he overtook Marc Marquez and became the race leader. The Ducati rider only got the chance to beat Vinales when he made the mistake of going wide in the final few laps. Despite trying hard to regain the position, Vinales was P2 with Bagnaia in P3.

KTM's Maverick Vinales pushed from Podium

The heartbreak came after the race as KTM was penalised for having a lower tyre pressure after the race. This helped Franco Morbidelli to enter the podium for his VR46 team. The investigation happened after the race, where the stewards found Vinales was running low on pressure, which should be a minimum of 60% of the race laps.

He is now given a standard 16-second time penalty, which pushes him from P2 to P14. This is a massive heartbreak for the KTM brand as they enjoyed success after a long time. The brand is under financial crisis, and its MotoGP future is also uncertain. Victories like these will boost their confidence and investments, but now they are stripped from them.

Heart goes to Maverick for showing us that the Ducatis are also vulnerable and setting a great example for the rest of the constructors like Yamaha, Honda and Aprilia to take confidence. The tyre pressure was reduced because KTM would have expected Vinales to fight in the midfield, but Maverick fought for the pole position against Marc Marquez. 

Also Read: 2025 MotoGP Qatar GP race results: Marc Marquez wins for Ducati at Lusail amid KTM threat