Pedro Acosta comes full circle: "Why I chose to leave KTM

Pedro Acosta achieved his big goal at Spielberg on Sunday. In his third year in the premier class, he clinched his first MotoGP victory. The former Moto3 and Moto2 world champion had climbed the podium many times, but it was never enough for the top step. Until September 20, 2026.

His last Grand Prix win — in the Moto2 World Championship — dates back almost three years. Now he is also on the list of MotoGP winners, an event that happened at KTM’s home race. "I remembered my last GP win in Indonesia in 2023, and also the moment when Tech3 told me they would take me into their MotoGP team. I can only thank KTM," said Pedro Acosta. "Thanks also to the Tech3 guys, they helped me fix the bike after the crash in the warm-up. Without them, we wouldn’t have had two bikes ready for the race."

In Saturday’s sprint race, the Shark of Mazarrón crashed while leading. On the last lap of warm-up he ended up in the gravel. Finally, in Sunday’s showdown he found the redemption he so richly deserved. "It’s even more exciting to do it at the home of KTM and Red Bull. I’m very happy for them and also for myself. They suffered a lot last year, even just to stay in the championship," Acosta added. "How they managed to recover from financial difficulties and how we fought to come back with our bike... I can only say thank you. It’s been a long journey to get here."

It wasn’t easy to handle the race pressure after the two crashes. "Yesterday I made a total mess. Today I made another serious mistake and destroyed the bike. I almost peed my pants because I didn’t want to make another mistake at KTM’s home."

Pedro Acosta and KTM will tackle the final Grands Prix of this MotoGP season together, before their joint journey ends at the end of 2026. In the overall standings, he is 72 points adrift, in fourth place ahead of the last seven weekends. The gap to Jorge Martin (Aprilia) is too wide to dream big, and the tough Asian tour will begin soon. "KTM has gone through very difficult times, and so have I, and that’s why I made the decision to leave.Anyway... we should be more than happy to be able to win again, especially after their drought, my drought, and doing it at KTM and Red Bull’s home track."

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