– Pedro Acosta’s career has so far been closely linked with KTM. In 2019 and 2020, the Spaniard competed in the Red Bull Rookies Cup. In the first season, he narrowly lost to Carlos Tatay, but in the second year, he won the title and thus earned his ticket to the Moto3 World Championship.
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Acosta exploded onto the scene immediately. In his first Moto3 race, he surprised everyone by finishing second. But he proved he was a rising star by winning the next three races in a row.
With a total of six wins, Acosta became Moto3 World Champion as a rookie. He stayed with the Ajo team and moved up to Moto2. The first half of the season was more challenging. In addition, he broke a leg in the summer.
Nevertheless, he grew stronger and established himself at the front. In his second Moto2 season, Acosta became World Champion. KTM brought him to Tech3 in MotoGP. He stood on the podium in his second and third races.
KTM promoted him to the factory team. The first half of 2025 was mixed, but in the second half, Acosta regularly secured podiums and improved to fourth in the World Championship standings.
In 2026, Acosta started in Thailand with a win in the sprint and second place in the Grand Prix. For the first time, a KTM rider led the World Championship standings. But Aprilia and Ducati are stronger. Acosta is still waiting for his first MotoGP win.
At the end of the season, the 22-year-old says goodbye to the Austrian brand and moves to the Ducati factory team. He will be teammates with Marc Marquez there. The big goal of winning the world championship with KTM did not materialize.
“Since I signed my factory contract, that has been the only thing I wanted: a motorcycle to win the championship. It is clear that this motorcycle is not yet ready for that.”
“And to be honest, I have no more time to lose,” says Acosta. “I mean, I gained a lot of experience at KTM. I also feel that this was the challenge I needed for my career.”
Photo gallery: The career highlights of Pedro Acosta
“I will have great memories of these six years at KTM, and I see that they will really get two strong riders. I think they will also have a nice opportunity to start fresh with two great guys.”
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KTM has signed Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio for the next two years. Both come from Ducati and are expected to use their experience to help further develop the new 850cc motorcycle.
How Acosta evaluates the current season
Next year, Acosta will compete as a Ducati rider against KTM. According to Acosta, the fact that the transfers have now been officially confirmed, although they had been settled behind the scenes for some time, does not change anything.
“The announcements haven’t changed anything. In the end, I was probably more nervous when people announced that I was coming to MotoGP compared to now. I think I am doing a good job within the things I can control.”
“I was within my goal of the top 5 and made a difference compared to the other KTMs,” says Acosta. “I am super happy about the opportunity I get [next year].”
“But as I said: My head is with KTM at the moment. I am trying to give 100 percent until the end of the year, and the opportunity will surely come sooner or later.”
“It is true that it is currently quite difficult to get the opportunity [for a win] when we still have all these problems around us, but we will keep trying until the end.”
Technical problems recently cost Acosta some World Championship points. At mid-season, he is seventh in the standings and 60 points behind. Therefore, he would not rate his first half of the season as perfect on a scale from 1 to 10.
“This is the first time I will give a high number. I would say a 7 for my performance. If you take an overall picture of what happened during all the first races, I would say a 4.”
“We had many technical problems. I lost points in Barcelona, I lost points in Brno, I lost points in Assen. So maybe we should be further ahead, but it is what it is. Otherwise, 5, 6. Yes, 5.”
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