Marco Bezzecchi
KTM are permitted to compete in the 2025 MotoGP campaign as they had hoped after creditors accepted a company restructuring plan to tackle debts of nearly £2 billion.
The Austrian manufacturer hit trouble in November last year and entered self-administration in a bid to tackle a worsening financial situation which threatened their future in MotoGP.
KTM attracted investors to their project and their future looks a lot rosier now. They will be permitted to run without issue at the season-opening Grand Prix of Thailand.
It means riders Pedro Acosta and Brad Binder have one less thing to worry about externally, but there’s plenty for them to tackle on the track yet.
Acosta suffered a ‘very worrying’ KTM issue at pre-season testing as he battled with extreme rear tyre wear. It could completely hamper his race pace.
One journalist even went as far as saying that Acosta may be facing a ‘rider safety issue’ on his KTM, especially considering that he may have been exposing the carcass of the tyre at some stages.
Pedro Acosta is ‘really angry’ with KTM ahead of the 2025 MotoGP season
There were only five days of pre-season testing across Sepang and Buriram, but Herve Poncharal already thinks Acosta is better than Binder at KTM.
The 20-year-old is only going to get better with more laps under his belt on the factory machine too. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him beat his tally of five podiums from his rookie season.
That isn’t to say that KTM’s financial situation isn’t frustrating though. Without matching the level of investment from their rivals, they could fall behind in the development race.
READ MORE: Pedro Acosta needs to listen to what Marc Marquez just said about MotoGP ‘risks’
Manuel Pecino told MOTOSAN that the Spaniard isn’t best pleased with the current situation at the team ahead of the new campaign.
“This weekend we will be stationed at the KTM garage door and you will see how, during practice, Pedro is angry. He is super demanding inside the garage, which he doesn’t show because he seems like a relaxed and good-natured guy, but he is super demanding on the team,” he said.
“And he gets really angry inside the garage… because he knows what the situation is, that’s why he went to Austria. Imagine Pedro Acosta on a Ducati, he would be at the level of Pecco and Marc Márquez.”
How Pedro Acosta brought a ‘breath of fresh air’ to KTM during MotoGP testing
Although KTM struggled on longer runs during testing, they showed some promise over one lap which bodes well if they can find a setup that helps handle their tyres more gently.
Acosta finished fourth on the second and final day in Buriram, less than three-tenths behind the dominant factory bike of Marc Marquez.
It’s unknown what the fuel loads were and how much he was pushing, but it shows that he is fairly comfortable with the 2025 machine already.
Acosta’s pace brought a ‘breath of fresh air’ to KTM and assured them that they have made progress since the start of the 2024 campaign.
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