The US MotoGP weekend saw Tech3 claim its first landmark result of the Guenther Steiner era.

Unfortunately, the team didn’t get to celebrate Enea Bastianini’s ‘bronze medal’ on the rostrum, with the Italian promoted to third after a post-race tyre pressure penalty for factory KTM rider Pedro Acosta.

Nevertheless, the Italian backed it up with another strong ride in the grand prix, charging from twelfth on the grid to challenge reigning champion Marc Marquez for fifth place.

Meanwhile, off track, Bastianini and Tech3 were the subject of rumours for 2027.

The Italian is being linked with a return to Gresini Ducati, while Tech3 must decide on machinery for the new 850cc/Pirelli era.

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“We need to figure out what to do”

“There are even too many rumours here. In any case, we have to look around; it’s part of my job to understand what’s on the market,” Guenther Steiner told GPOne.com over the COTA weekend.

“The ideal scenario is always to stay with a partner, if you have one, but you also have to see what others are offering.

“You can’t just say we’ll keep going like this and that’s it, because right now the results for us aren’t spectacular, and we need to clearly understand which path to take.

“We still have a few months, but not a huge amount of time to decide.

“That’s the real challenge: if I had another six months, it would be much better, but I don’t. We need to figure out what to do. 

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“I’ll say it again: for us, the ideal scenario would be to stay with KTM, but to do that, I need certain guarantees.”

Honda is seeking six bikes

Tech3 has been KTM’s satellite team since 2019, winning two MotoGP races with Miguel Oliveira the following year.

Tech3’s current riders – Bastianini and Maverick Vinales – are on KTM contracts, riding the same-spec RC16s as Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder, with Red Bull as title sponsor of both teams.

But the existing Tech3-KTM agreement expires at the end of this season, and the level of future support remains unclear under KTM’s new Bajaj ownership.

Meanwhile, Honda has emerged as a potential Tech3 alternative, according to Motorsport.com, as it seeks to join Ducati in having six bikes on the grid.

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Tech3’s previous alliance with another Japanese manufacturer, Yamaha, lasted 20 years before the switch to KTM.

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