‘Positive’ Pedro Acosta spotted making behind-the-scenes change at KTM that has yielded ‘much better’ MotoGP results

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Pedro Acosta has returned to the podium in MotoGP for the first time since Thailand last season. The KTM star finished P3 at the Czech Grand Prix; his first race at the Brno circuit.

Acosta exceeded Marc Marquez’s expectations of him at the Czech Grand Prix. The Ducati rider had expected his fellow compatriots Acosta and Fermin Aldeguer to struggle as rookies, and while the latter did by qualifying 18th, the former was immediately on the pace.

Acosta led the Sprint race on Saturday after Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia had issues with tyre pressure and were forced to back off. The former got past the KTM rider in the closing stages for his 11th Sprint win of 2025, while Acosta grabbed his first podium of the season.

The 21-year-old continued his pace on Sunday as he mixed with the frontrunners on his RC16. Acosta did not quite have the pace to match Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi, but he fended off Bagnaia to finish a brilliant third in front of the KTM hierarchy.

The result will prove to be a much-needed confidence boost for the Spaniard. Acosta has been despondent about KTM in 2025, as he has not been satisfied with the bike’s progress, but Neil Hodgson has spotted a ‘positive’ change in his approach.

Pedro Acosta’s ‘positive’ attitude change has yielded ‘much better’ results at KTM

Speaking via TNT Sports 2 (20/7, 1:17pm), he noted that Acosta has adopted a different approach to race weekends as he seems ‘less grumpy’. KTM may have held an ‘internal conversation’ with Acosta over his angry media debriefs about the team.

Hodgson has seen that the 21-year-old looks more positive ahead of races, which has yielded stronger results, as evidenced by his double podium at Brno: “So good to see Pedro Acosta back. He’s another rider who just lost a bit of confidence early on,” he said on lap seven.

“I just think the reality was the latest, all-singing, all-dancing 2025 KTM just wasn’t up to scratch.

“All riders went in different directions, they were testing lots of different things during race weekends and basically, just tied themselves up in knots.”

Hodgson added on lap 11: “I’ll tell you what’s quite interesting as well? Pedro Acosta turned up at Sachsenring a few weeks back and with a different attitude.

“He was less grumpy, he was more positive. He did sort of point the fingers towards KTM to say: ‘I’m going to approach weekends slightly different. It’s down to KTM to, basically, give me the material and I’ll get the results’.

“But from that moment, it’s like what appears to be an attitude change, the results are much better.”

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

Pedro Acosta is still demanding changes from KTM

Acosta’s first podium of 2025 will be a sign of relief, but also perhaps bittersweet. He would not have expected it to take 12 rounds out of 22 to finish in the top three this season.

Acosta is still calling for upgrades at KTM and he expects them to be on the bike after the summer break. KTM’s performance at Brno proved they are heading in the right direction, with Enea Bastianini finishing third for Tech3 in the Sprint.

The Austrian manufacturer will be keen to ensure that their display at the Czech GP will not be a one-off, especially given the rumours linking Acosta to VR46 as early as next season.

But Uccio Salucci thinks Acosta would favour a factory team rather than a satellite outfit. With no way of getting out of his contract early, KTM will be looking to improve their star talent’s confidence on the bike, and they are on the right track.