Ducati manager says there’s a simple reason Pedro Acosta hasn’t won a MotoGP race

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Ducati are expected to sign Pedro Acosta for the 2027 MotoGP season. Acosta will replace Francesco Bagnaia and become Marc Marquez’s new teammate.

The argument for signing Acosta is obvious. A world champion in Moto2 and Moto3, he’s arguably the most exciting talent in motorcycle racing right now.

Acosta has scored 10 Grand Prix podiums in his first two premier-class seasons, improving from sixth in the standings as a rookie to fourth last year. He single-handedly outscored the other three KTM riders combined.

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The only mark against Acosta’s name is that he hasn’t won a MotoGP race yet, despite finishing second five times.

Pedro Acosta hasn’t won because he isn’t ‘racing a Ducati’

Only Colin Edwards has scored more podiums than Acosta without winning a race (12 vs 10). The Spaniard took pole position at the 2024 Japanese GP but crashed out of both races.

Excluding rookies, Acosta is one of only three riders on the 2026 grid without a win to his name, along with Honda’s Luca Marini and Trackhouse’s Ai Ogura. Murcian rival Fermin Aldeguer took his first victory last year, as did Ogura’s teammate Raul Fernandez.

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But a Ducati manager, speaking to El Periodico, played down Acosta’s prolonged wait. In their eyes, he hasn’t won ‘simply because he wasn’t a racing Ducati’.

The Borgo Panigale outfit are giving up Bagnaia, the only two-time world champion in their history, to sign Acosta. That underlines their supreme confidence in the 21-year-old.

Pedro Acosta’s near-misses in pursuit of his first MotoGP win

In addition to the aforementioned Motegi races, Acosta crashed out of the 2024 Catalan GP after battling eventual world champion Jorge Martin for the lead.

Last year, he couldn’t hold on to his lead in the Brno or Portimao Sprints. Alex Marquez beat him by just a tenth of a second in Portugal.

A Saturday victory would clearly be a major milestone for Acosta, but what will really interest him is standing on the top step of a Grand Prix podium.

Unfortunately, Acosta is braced for a ‘year of suffering’ after Ducati’s ominous performance in the Sepang test. No KTM rider has won a full-length GP since Miguel Oliveira in October 2022 (Thailand).