Pedro Acosta isn't thinking about Ducati: dual mission before leaving KTM

An important podium for the two-time world champion at MotorLand; he cared about it and achieved it: beating Marquez wasn’t possible—it will be easier when he has the same weapons.

After the fourth place in the sprint race that left him a bit bitter, Pedro Acosta redeemed himself in the long MotoGP race at Aragon. Second place behind the unbeatable Marc Marquez is an excellent result, the best possible with his KTM RC16. Finishing ahead of Marco Bezzecchi and other rivals riding Ducati or Aprilia is never trivial.

Looking also at the performances of his brand mates, once again we must take our hats off to him: he keeps making a huge difference. Taking advantage of Raul Fernandez’s retirement due to a technical issue, he also managed to snatch sixth place in the overall MotoGP standings from his compatriot. The gap to the leader, Jorge Martin, remains large at 67 points. It’s hard to think about the world title, even though there are nine Grands Prix left and theoretically anything can happen.

He would have liked to defeat Marquez, but Acosta is still satisfied with his final placing in the MotoGP race at MotorLand: "I tried. The problem was when Marc made the final push, ten laps from the end," reports Motosan, "when he started lapping in 1:46. It was in those two or three laps that he gained two or three tenths on me and I was left behind. I think we got 100% out of what we had."

He hadn’t been on the podium since the Hungarian Grand Prix, so getting back on it was important. He also pulled off a nice overtake on Bezzecchi at the last corner, though the Red Bull KTM Factory rider plays it down a bit: "It was one of the easy ones. There was a big speed difference. I just followed my normal line, only being careful in case someone was on the inside. It looked good on TV. I’ve made better passes."

Marquez had positive words for him, and it will certainly be interesting to see how things go in 2027–2028, when they’ll both be in the factory Ducati garage. But for now, Pedro prefers to focus on the present: "I’ll try to score a few more podiums for the rest of this season and then we’ll see what happens when I’m dressed in red. I think I made a lot of mistakes last year by talking too much, so I’ll wait until I’m on the bike."

Finishing second is by no means dishonorable, but the two-time world champion also hopes to have the chance to win his first MotoGP race before leaving KTM: "It’s mostly about getting the most out of what we have. It’s clear this isn’t the performance we’d like to have; I don’t want to finish second either. But the worst thing is to crash and score no points. Win? For now it’s a distant goal. We hope we can dream of a win with KTM, but I think I’d leave with a better taste in my mouth if we managed to take third in the championship."

Acosta is eager to step onto the top step of the podium, but he also cares about claiming the bronze medal at the end of the 2026 championship. At the moment, third place in the standings (occupied by Bezzecchi) is 43 points away. Completing his mission won’t be simple. If he manages to win at least one race and also take bronze, it would be a masterpiece.