Marco Bezzecchi
Pedro Acosta is still waiting for his breakthrough result with the KTM factory, nine races after his promotion from Tech3.
It was expected that at some stage this season, the young Spaniard would receive the opportunity to compete for his maiden MotoGP victory.
However, that hasn’t been the case for Acosta, and he has been left chasing improvements and results in the lower half of the top 10.
KTM have simply failed to deliver a bike that can be a contender for silverware. It boasts incredible straight line speed, but lacks in other areas.
Acosta emulated Marc Marquez in the worst way at the Italian Grand Prix by attempting a different strategy in the sprint and crashing due to a lack of grip.
After some positive feedback, Acosta said it’s clear KTM cannot rely on their bike to do well in the future if they do little to develop it. They must attempt to make it better.
Pedro Acosta being unaware of ‘astonishing’ KTM upgrade shows he’s ‘not very good’ at feeling things
Acosta was ‘demanding’ one thing from KTM after he paid a visit to their factory with teammate Brad Binder just a few weeks ago.
They urged their colleagues to get behind them to help them improve the bike by bringing new parts to it as soon as they can.
Max Oxley has revealed the worrying thing Acosta told him about having a new rear aero update in a test, which left him confused.
“Acosta told us that they tested without any seat aero at the Aragon test, and he said if he hadn’t told me that I didn’t have it on, I wouldn’t have known,” he said on the Oxley Bom Podcast.
“Which is astonishing really, because most riders say that the rear aero makes a big difference, especially when you’re braking. Helping keep the rear on the ground, and he said he couldn’t notice.
“So that either means KTM have been going down a complete wrong road for years, or that Acosta’s not very good at feeling stuff, I don’t know. It could be either, or a bit of both.”
READ MORE: KTM star Pedro Acosta reveals what’s so ‘annoying’ about his ‘best’ ever race in MotoGP
Is Pedro Acosta losing interest in KTM’s MotoGP operation?
It’s still unconfirmed whether KTM are set to remain on the MotoGP grid beyond the end of 2026, which means that all four of their contracted riders have no real long-term stability.
Acosta is young and fast enough not to have to worry too much about where he will end up, because he’s going to have plenty of offers.
However, looking at his current predicament, it would be easy to be distracted by a move to a quicker bike – a VR46, for example, in place of Franco Morbidelli, whose contract ends at the end of 2025.
Acosta ‘will not dare’ say one thing and flirt with rival teams in public about a possible move, which would cause chaos in the MotoGP rider market.
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