Marco Bezzecchi
Following yet another heartbreak in his quest to secure a maiden Grand Prix victory in the premier class, Pedro Acosta has issued a one-word verdict on his 2026 MotoGP title hopes.
Catalan Grand Prix pole-sitter Pedro Acosta came agonisingly close to a maiden Grand Prix victory at the weekend, succumbing to the prowess of Fabio Di Giannantonio with just two laps to go in Barcelona.
By the time the chequered flag flew for the Italian rider, Acosta conceded several positions, only to be taken out of the race entirely by Ai Ogura at the very last corner of the Grand Prix.
It was a frustrating weekend all round for the young Murcian, despite taking pole position on Saturday morning. He also missed out on a win in the Sprint race, losing out to Alex Marquez by 0.041s at the line.
- READ MORE: Pedro Acosta rejects Joan Mir’s ‘solution’ to avoid Johann Zarco’s Catalan Grand Prix crash
Pedro Acosta dismisses 2026 MotoGP title hopes with one-word verdict
With the calibre of performances that Acosta seems to be putting in week in, week out, the fact that he is yet to stand on the top step of a Grand Prix podium remains a sore subject.
Following his top-three finish at the United States Grand Prix in March, Acosta inherited the unwanted MotoGP record of having the most amount of trips to the rostrum without claiming a Grand Prix victory.
His consistent performances have netted him P4 in the riders’ championship after the first six rounds of the season, but the points tallies paint a much more difficult picture in the championship landscape.
Acosta is now 50 points behind championship leader Marco Bezzecchi, with the nine points from Saturday’s Sprint serving as his only haul from the most recent race weekend.
Since ending the season-opener in Thailand as the benchmark in the standings, it’s clear that KTM’s bike simply isn’t in the same league as front-runners Aprilia and Ducati.
Following an in-season test scheduled for the day after the Catalan Grand Prix race weekend, the 21-year-old was asked by Speedweek for his verdict on whether a title could be possible this year, to which he immediately shut down with an assertive, “No.”
- READ MORE: Pedro Acosta says it wasn’t ‘necessary’ to restart Catalan Grand Prix after two red flags
Pedro Acosta explains his lack of pace during final laps of Catalan Grand Prix
In his chat with the Austrian publication, he also revealed the reason for his lack of pace during the final few laps of the Catalan Grand Prix.
As Acosta tried to hang on to the lead with every fibre of his being, Ducati’s best-in-class engine power was simply too much for KTM’s, and Di Giannantonio eventually made his way past.
Despite Acosta’s impression that KTM had stamped out their tyre wear issues during pre-season, it severely hindered his hopes of scoring a first Grand Prix victory over the weekend.
“It’s hard to understand why I struggled so much,” he said, adding, “Because in the first race with the medium tyre, which I had so much trouble with last year, it actually worked quite well, and it looked like I had really managed to save the tyre for the end of the race.
“It’s hard to understand how a tyre can change so drastically from the first to the last start of the day.”
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
