Guenther Steiner has finally broken his silence on the tough call to hand Senna Agius the final Tech3 KTM MotoGP seat for next season. The announcement came on the eve of the Red Bull Ring round, raising a big question: why not Manuel Gonzalez, the Moto2 championship leader?
Steiner admitted that choosing between Agius and Gonzalez was no easy task. "It was a very difficult decision between the two of them. They're both very good," he told MotoGP pit lane reporter Jack Appleyard in Austria. "But for us with Senna, it was his age. He's three years younger, and we've got more time to develop him."
At just 21, Agius is seen as a long-term investment. Gonzalez, 24, despite leading the Moto2 standings, must watch his teammate graduate first. This also means that out of four Moto2 riders stepping up to MotoGP next year, Gonzalez is not among them.
Tech3 opted for a mix of experience and raw potential: Luca Marini, who already has premier class mileage, and Agius, hungry for success. "We just see the potential for Senna to be somebody big in MotoGP, and I think we were quite fortunate to pick him up, because there were a lot of people looking at him," Steiner added.
Technical factors also played a role. According to Steiner, next year is a good time to bring in a rookie because the gap between Moto2 and the 2027 MotoGP bikes is smaller than now. Agius already has experience on Pirelli tyres, which will become the sole MotoGP supplier next season.
Agius's promotion is also good news for Australia. Although Jack Miller moves to WorldSBK, the Adelaide public will still have a representative on the MotoGP grid. "Senna's the only Australian in MotoGP. It must be great for him going back to Australia as a MotoGP rider, especially with Adelaide coming in as a new event. There will be a lot of hype. Hopefully not too much, so he doesn't get distracted! We need to keep him under wraps there. We will hide him away!" Steiner joked.
Agius immediately proved his speed in his MotoGP debut during Monday's Pirelli test at the Red Bull Ring. Unofficial reports put him just 0.4s slower than current Tech3 rider Maverick Vinales. Both were reported to have been using adapted 1000cc KTM machines rather than the 850cc prototype.
With this decision, Tech3 reaffirms their long-term development direction. Agius is not just a filler but a future project ready to be seriously groomed. Meanwhile, Gonzalez must prove that age is not a barrier to being noticed by MotoGP teams in the future.
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