Acosta–Marquez, a fiery duel that foreshadows 2027: Ducati knows what to expect

Great battles between the two future teammates: the KTM rider had the upper hand, but the Ducati rider had to deal with less-than-perfect physical condition.

There are no official announcements yet, but it’s known that Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta will race together for the Ducati MotoGP factory team in 2027 and 2028. Many can’t wait to see how their head-to-head fights will look on equal terms, and whether there will be tensions the team will have to manage. In the meantime, at Mugello the two found themselves battling without holding back, yet always fairly.

The KTM rider prevailed with an RC16 that had limitations on the straight, even if sixth place can’t make him happy. His compatriot finished seventh, with the justification of showing up at the Italian Grand Prix after two surgeries that inevitably kept him from being at 100%. In particular, the one on his right shoulder affected him; he still needs time for a full recovery.

In the first part of the MotoGP race in Tuscany, the two riders dueled for fourth place, with Marquez doing everything to keep Acosta behind. He defended tooth and nail, exploiting the better performance of the Ducati engine to avoid being overtaken or to overtake in turn at San Donato, after the long Mugello Circuit straight.

Certainly, the duel didn’t do their tires any favors, and both were passed by Ai Ogura and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who came from behind and smartly finished fourth and fifth respectively, just behind Pecco Bagnaia. Acosta tried to work miracles with his KTM RC16, clearly less competitive than the Aprilia RS-GP26 and the Ducati Desmosedici GP26. In the end, he had to settle for a top-six. For Marquez, the defeat doesn’t sting, since he was returning and suffered physically in the final part of the race. Had he been at the top of his game, we probably would have seen him on the podium.

Acosta doesn’t hide that he really enjoyed fighting with a MotoGP legend, even if he would have liked to be in a better technical condition with his KTM RC16: "I had a lot of fun and I hope the fans did too. I think it was one of the toughest battles I’ve had in MotoGP. Fighting cost me a bit, but I don’t think I had the pace to go faster than the others who finished ahead. I don’t know why, but this weekend we struggled with speed and acceleration. It had already happened on Saturday in Austin and at the Brazilian GP. We need to check the data and see how to improve, because today we really struggled."

Marquez also enjoyed the battle with his compatriot, until his body forced him to slow down and settle for seventh at the finish: "I had fun; I don’t go down easy. I tried to stay there, to give my 100% until I started to fade towards the end. I have a superior bike to Pedro’s, which is why I could fight with him, as he was riding a bit better. I managed to pass him on the straight and stay ahead, but with 8 laps to go I started to drop a lot and decided to finish the race. As a starting point it’s not bad. There was more wear on my body than on the tire, which was high but manageable. Anyway, already 10 laps from the end I wasn’t riding well and it seemed like the tire was wearing more. The problem is that when the muscle gets tired it says enough; the shoulder works awkwardly and irritation and pain start. It’s normal—it’s a muscle that, with the nerve, wasn’t working and now it is."