Jakob Rosenthaler opens up to Palmen in Motorradsport

It’s no mystery that the 2025 season is being a strange one for Jakob Rosenthaler. The young Austrian rider, who scored good results in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup and two podium finishes in the JuniorGP World Championship, has found himself without a ride for this year due to financial reasons, and the most he could do was racing a few races in the Moto3 World Championship.

Rosenthaler raced for Aspar Team in Thailand and Argentina (when Máximo Quiles was still below the minimum age), MLav Racing in Austin (replacing injured Marcos Uriarte) and then DENSSI Racing - BOE in Le Mans (where he stepped in for injured Ruché Moodley), and he tried to make the best out of any opportunity. After these experiences, Rosenthaler has finally managed to find a seat for more races, as Freudenberg KTM - PALIGO Racing Team chose him to replace injured Philipp Tonn in the Supersport 300 World Championship. A slight change in his plans, but Jakob is already being fast in WorldSSP300, and his goal still remains the same…

And right at the Czech Round in Most, where he made his debut in the series, Palmen in Motorradsport had the chance to interview Jakob Rosenthaler and chat with him on the 2025 season, his career since the very beginning and more.

Jakob, new chapter for you as you will race a few rounds in WorldSSP300. How is the adaptation going, after the years you spent on a Moto3 machine?

First of all, I'm really happy that I finally found something for more races, instead of doing every race with a different team like I did in Moto3. The pre-season was quite difficult and I didn't really have a plan, because I didn’t have the budget for the season, and now I’m happy that I finally have a team for more races. The adaptation was quite difficult, but it's going better and better and I also tested in Most a couple of weeks before the World Championship round.

In between I raced in Moto3 at Le Mans and when I came back from the Moto3, the first laps on the KTM RC390R were again quite strange. Still, in general it's a bit easier than Moto3, as you get more feedback from the bike and it’s easier to push it to the limit. Moreover, the top speed is lower, so you have like more time to think, although the races here are even harder and more battled.

What’s your goal for this adventure in Supersport 300?

In Most, we have seen that we are already competitive. Despite the few laps done previously, I was already in the front group and even if it was not reflected in the results (DNF in Race 1, 12th in Race 2, ed), we can aim high. In any case, it’s a bit different from Moto3: the races are shorter, the groups are even bigger and some riders are, let’s say, more “impulsive” rather than clever. Anyway, I think we can do a good job here.

Can you talk a little bit about the races you had in Moto3 World Championship this year?

They were quite difficult, because it was always a different team. You need to adapt to the teams and, when I raced in Austin with MLav Racing, also to a new bike, since it was the first time I rode a Honda after many years on a KTM. It’s hard, but you also learn a lot of things when you see different ways of working, so I'm happy that I got such opportunities. Moreover, in Le Mans I was doing a good race and at the beginning I was close to the front group. Then I lost some ground and I crashed, but it was still a good weekend.

Your situation is a bit atypical, as you are racing here and there as a replacement rider. Could you please share why you have not found a seat for the entire season?

Basically the team I was riding for in JuniorGP (IntactGP, ed) had to retire from the championship due to financial reasons, and at the same time I lost the main sponsor I had in my career. Everything happened quite late, when all the seats were already occupied by other riders, therefore I remained on the sidelines.

It’s also a bit strange that you did not find anything, as a rider who also scored some podium finishes in JuniorGP.

Yes, but…Things are strange sometimes!

Moving to a different topic, would you like to talk about your racing career since the very beginning?

I got my first bike when I was four years old and then I started with motocross. Back in the days, I didn't really ride a lot, just some races in a year. Then, after some years, I started to ride supermoto, I started to do some races as well and I was quite fast, so we continued. Later on, I started to ride minibike in Germany, more precisely in the ADAC Mini Bike Cup: the first year was difficult, since everything was new to me, but in the second year I was really fast and made some podiums and race wins. We were looking for options for the future, then the Northern Talent Cup was introduced for 2020 and we thought it was a good option.

So you went to NTC straight from minibikes and supermoto? That was a huge step!

Yes, and my whole career so far has been a continuous sequence of quick steps up to higher categories. By the way, when we got to the Northern Talent Cup we thought: “OK, we will just try and maybe spend two or three years here. But then, I was already fast in my first year. It was a strage season, since we had four rounds within a month due to the Covid pandemic, but I improved race by race and in the last race I finished second, so I had my first podium (he finished sixth in the championship standings, ed). Thanks to this result, I proved my potential and that’s how I got selected for the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. At that stage, we understood that things were getting serious and so we started putting all our effort on it.

And how were your seasons in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup?

It started really good, with two points finished in my first race in Portimão, but then it was a bit difficult to improve from this point. Maybe it was a rushed move to go to Rookies Cup, considering that the previous season in the Northern Talent Cup went well, but we had only four rounds due to the pandemic. Moreover, I was racing only there, while the rest of the field were racing also in CEV (now JuniorGP, ed) and therefore spending more time racing than me. So, during the first season I stayed more or less in the same level and some races with difficult tracks I was even a bit more behind.

Then it got better from your second season in the series, back in 2022, and you also raced in JuniorGP.

Exactly, and the results were good, especially in JuniorGP. Actually, in the Rookies Cup I almost scored a podium in Mugello, but then another rider kicked me out of the race in the first corner of the last lap and the dream vanished. On the other hand, the results were coming more easily in JuniorGP, where I scored two podiums (both in Estoril, in 2023 and then 2024, ed). That’s where we saw that we were going in the right direction.

In 2024, you also had a chance to do your first wildcard appearances in the Moto3 World Championship, and the first one was at your home GP in Austria. How did it feel?

It was definitely special and I know the fans were looking at me or what I can do. For sure they didn't expect something special because it was my first race there, but just to know that there are a lot of fans out there was amazing. I had raced at Red Bull Ring also when I was in the Rookies Cup, but there were way fewer people watching it, so I immediately felt the difference on that side.

Do you remember the first time you exited the pit lane?

Yes, and it was incredible. I knew some of the riders I was racing against, but to be one of them and have also the bikes of Red Bull KTM Ajo riding close to me…You know, you don't see that in the JuniorGP. So it was really special and also a bit difficult to describe.

And at this stage, what's your goal for the future in general?

My goal has always been to get to MotoGP one day, more or less like all the riders. Now the direction has changed a little bit, and I realised that I need to be more open to everything, but the goal stays the same: MotoGP. Now, I will just try to ride and be as fast as I can, then we will see what happens.

Are you completely focused on your racing career, or you are also doing something else off the racetrack?

Until two or three weeks before, I was also going to school and studying Mechanical Engineering. Now that I am done with it, I am 100% concentrated on racing.

In conclusion, do you want to thank anyone in particular?

First of all, I am very thankful to my parents, because without them none of this would be possible. When I was 4 years old, I didn’t even think of starting this sport and I found it unrealistic, but then my father came up with the idea and now we are here. At a certain stage you need also sponsors to continue racing, but at the basis you always have your family. Moreover, I say thanks to KTM for supporting me during the past few years. Now they are going through very difficult times, but still I wouldn't be here without them.

Palmen in Motorradsport is grateful to Jakob Rosenthaler for his time and kindness and wishes him all the best for the coming races and seasons.