Peter Bom deeply concerned that ‘top-four’ MotoGP rider is ‘less determined’ in 2025

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The first two rounds of the 2025 MotoGP season have seen Marc Marquez leave everyone behind. Some riders are struggling to cope.

The six-time MotoGP champion has grabbed maximum points so far this season. Winning the Thailand and Argentina Grand Prix, both Sprints and pole positions, the Spaniard has been almost unstoppable.

Brother Alex Marquez has proved to be his closest rival, finishing second in every race so far. Ducati teammate Francesco Bagnaia has offered little competition to Marquez, finishing 5.5 seconds behind in fourth in Termas de Rio Hondo.

Ducati are still on top and could be set to dominate the 2025 season. However, the competition amongst the rest of the field looks closer than ever.

Yamaha and Honda have invested heavily behind the scenes, with the latter scoring great signs of improvement under the concession system. Aprilia have also invested strongly, but have suffered from Jorge Martin being out injured.

KTM have been unable to invest in 2025 due to the financial crisis plaguing the company. It seems to have affected their MotoGP programme, with one rider struggling for motivation after two rounds.

Peter Bom fears Pedro Acosta is ‘less determined’ in the 2025 MotoGP season

Many were anticipating Pedro Acosta’s promotion to the factory KTM team from the satellite Tech3 outfit. The 20-year-old grabbed five podiums and finished sixth in the standings in a mega rookie season in the premier class.

However, the move has proved difficult thus far in 2025. Acosta fell off his bike in Buriram and limped home P19.

In Argentina, he could only manage ninth in the Sprint and eighth in the Grand Prix as he struggled for competitiveness. Scoring 13 points from the first two races is not the start Acosta would have wanted – and Peter Bom thinks he is lacking motivation to perform at KTM.

“Acosta was all over the place. Losing, gaining, fighting with Mir. The way… I hope I see it wrong but he seems less determined, less really willing to put it on the line,” he said on the Oxley Bom MotoGP Podcast.

“He either crashes or he’s too slow. He’s losing motivation and that’s a serious thing for a guy that talent-wise, is in the top four on the grid, pure talent.

“And this was the year that we’re going to see, on a better KTM, how much of a pure racer he can become by being race intelligent, by having to do things that he never needed to do in Moto3 and Moto2.

“And I was really curious to see that, but we can’t learn that this year because the bike is just not up there.”

READ MORE: Everything to know about Pedro Acosta from net worth to girlfriend

KTM risk losing Pedro Acosta if they cannot improve their bike

It is clear KTM are struggling in comparison to their rivals in 2025. Acosta almost suffered a ‘rider safety issue’ in pre-season testing in Thailand with how worn his rear tyre was.

Vibrations on the RC16 are also still an issue this season as the Spaniard has struggled to extract the most out of it. Acosta has been beaten by teammate Brad Binder in the opening two races, finishing almost one and a half seconds behind in Argentina.

KTM’s financial problems will not have helped matters. Acosta demanded answers over the winter as to whether he could be competitive in 2025 – his current state of mind could lead to an early exit.

Keith Huewen is ‘pretty confident’ Acosta can leave before his contract runs out in 2026. The former commentator thinks there is an exit clause in his deal – KTM will be desperate to keep their star talent on board.