Francesco Bagnaia makes ‘incredible’ observation about racing KTM star Pedro Acosta

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Francesco Bagnaia has been resigned to finishing third place at best during most MotoGP events this season.

The two-time champion has failed to get to grips with Ducati’s GP25 bike, while teammate Marc Marquez has been able to dominate on it.

It leaves Bagnaia in a fascinating position. The title fight is over, but he must keep fighting to find improvements ahead of 2026, otherwise his position will become vulnerable.

A MotoGP superstar doesn’t fall off dramatically without reason, and over the winter, it will be his team’s task to strip his bike back and figure out what went wrong between the development of the 2024 and 2025 machines.

Bagnaia has realised his reality against Marquez and may be satisfied with finishing second behind the Spaniard this season at least.

After witnessing 11 races, Ducati insiders believe Bagnaia is ‘no match’ for Marquez. He is a few small steps behind him.

READ MORE: Davide Tardozzi shares worrying assessment of Francesco Bagnaia struggles at the German Grand Prix

Francesco Bagnaia was amazed by ‘incredible’ Pedro Acosta overtake at the German Grand Prix

Bagnaia has apologised to Ducati engineers after realising that he can’t reward them for their efforts on track, as much as he would like to.

He has now gone eight races without a victory, which is his longest streak since he joined the factory Ducati team back in 2021.

At the German Grand Prix, he had solid pace, but nothing capable of challenging his teammate for victory. He recovered from starting 11th on the grid well, to make the podium in third.

Along the way, he faced a battle with KTM’s Pedro Acosta, who left him very much impressed after a close exchange.

“On the first and second laps, I wanted to throw myself into Acosta on the last corner,” he said. “He threw himself in front to overtake Zarco, it’s incredible how he caught me on the inside. I was crashing.”

READ MORE: Francesco Bagnaia told by his father what he’s now ‘missing’ at Ducati amid 2025 MotoGP struggles

What Pedro Acosta’s MotoGP future now looks like after KTM rumours

Despite the drama which surrounded Acosta’s seat at the start of the season, it now looks like he will remain at KTM for sure over the winter.

VR46 were interested in Acosta, and Valentino Rossi has even mentioned that the team would ‘wait’ for his services to become available.

But it doesn’t appear that will arrive before the end of 2026, when his current contract expires, just before the start of new regulations.

By then, he will have plenty of options on the table, and he will only be 21 years old. Picking his next move could be critical for his long-term dreams of becoming a premier-class champion.