Claudio Domenicali issues major Pedro Acosta prediction amid Ducati transfer rumours

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Pedro Acosta has been reluctant to directly address his KTM future this season. But his frustration with the project is clear.

Acosta’s eighth-place finish at the Italian Grand Prix last weekend makes it nine races without a podium in 2025. He scored five for Tech3 during his rookie campaign.

Acosta has started complaining about KTM’s stagnation now that the company has been saved from bankruptcy. But even if he privately wishes to, he won’t be able to leave until the end of 2026.

Burned by Jorge Martin’s controversial 2020 exit, KTM ensured Acosta’s contract was watertight. But Ducati are already positioning themselves as long-term contenders for his signature.

VR46 are Acosta’s most likely destination, with Valentino Rossi already trying to persuade him. Their line-up has arguably been the weakest of the three Ducati squads so far in 2025.

Claudio Domenicali backs Pedro Acosta to win multiple world championships

The topic of Acosta came up in AS‘ interview with Ducati CEO Claudio Domenicali at Mugello. The 59-year-old spoke about his reported target in very flattering terms.

Domenicali believes that Acosta is destined to win the world championship. He’s already ‘one of the greats’ on the grid after just 28 races.

Acosta scored 215 points and finished sixth in a dazzling rookie campaign. While he’s dropped two places this year, he’s still at least 30 points ahead of every other KTM rider.

“Pedro is a very strong rider, and it’s hard not to like Pedro,” Domenicali said. “We already have so many strong riders, so we’ll see.

“Pedro is certainly one of the greats in this sport, and he’s only just arrived in MotoGP, but he’s certainly one of those who will become a champion. We’ll see.”

KTM may have gone down the wrong road ‘for years’ after Pedro Acosta revelation

The feeling among paddock insiders who attend media debriefs is that Acosta has ‘completely given up’. He’s extracting the potential of the RC16 bike, but may be counting the days until he can swap it for contending machinery.

Mat Oxley was ‘astonished’ to hear the youngster’s revelations about the recent Aragon test. KTM removed the seat aerodynamics, but he didn’t feel any difference.

This may indicate that KTM have gone down the ‘complete wrong road for years’ with their aero concept.

Should he join Ducati on factory-spec machinery, the match-up with Marc Marquez would be fascinating. After all, Acosta was widely called the new Marquez in 2024.