Marco Bezzecchi
Ducati test rider Michele Pirro is not surprised that Pedro Acosta has started the 2026 season strongly, yet the difference he makes against Brad Binder at KTM is surprising.
Acosta was in another league compared to his fellow KTM riders over the first two rounds in Thailand and Brazil. He won his first Sprint Race in Buriram and came second in the Thailand Grand Prix, before coming P9 in the Goiania Sprint and sealing P7 in the Brazilian Grand Prix.
While Acosta did not “feel like a winner” after the Buriram Sprint, owing to Marc Marquez’s penalty giving him the lead on the final lap, his podium in the Thailand GP even saw the 21-year-old leave atop the championship. Acosta is third in the standings after the Brazilian GP.
Acosta’s factory teammate Binder has been the second-best performing KTM rider so far in 2026. But the 30-year-old is only ninth in the standings with 13 points, compared to Acosta boasting 42. Tech3 duo Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales only have five and zero points.
Predict the order of the KTM riders in the 2026 MotoGP standings
Michele Pirro is ‘surprised’ that Pedro Acosta makes such a difference on the KTM RC16
Acosta was the sole KTM rider able to find performance on the RC16 in Brazil, where he also qualified P9, but Vinales, Binder and Bastianini all ranked at the bottom of the Q1 timesheet. Acosta also led the second-best KTM by 6.432s in the Sprint, and 13.153s in the Grand Prix.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Pedro Acosta from net worth to girlfriend
Binder in P15 was the second-best KTM behind Acosta in the Goiania Sprint, while Bastianini in P15 was the second-best rider on the RC16 in the Brazilian GP. How Acosta makes such a large difference astounds Pirro, who feels the Spaniard is one of the best riders in MotoGP.
Pirro told Moto.it: “I’m not really surprised, because I still consider Pedro Acosta to be one of the strongest talents around at the moment. Well, what does surprise me is the difference between him and his teammates.
“That’s the thing, because we’re talking about riders like Bastianini, Vinales and Binder – whom I still consider to be very strong riders. But Pedro is making an incredible difference, so well done to him.”
Acosta paid the price in the Brazilian GP for KTM sacrificing top speed to make the RC16 a more complete bike in 2026, as riders flew past the Mazarron native down the straights. A mistake into Turn 1 saw Binder crash on Lap 3 of the Brazilian GP, while Vinales finished last.
Vinales is still struggling with the shoulder injury he sustained in 2025, which forced him to miss a total of eight races last year. The Tech3 rider dislocated and fractured his shoulder in Germany last July, and the ongoing effects of that injury are contributing to his tough 2026.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
