Acosta: “We just have to look at how competitive Marc was here last year”

Pedro Acosta travelled to Spielberg feeling confident. The KTM rider had enjoyed a strong weekend at Misano, finishing 6th and 3rd. At the previous round in Aragon, he achieved two top results with a 4th and a 2nd place. Acosta has picked up a lot of points for the overall standings. He is currently in 5th place – 65 points behind World Championship leader Marc Marquez (Ducati).

This weekend marks KTM’s most important event of the year. At their home Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the Orange team are keen to build on their good form and also challenge for victory. In the past, Ducati have been a dominant force at the Austrian circuit, securing ten Grand Prix wins across twelve race weekends. Only KTM have managed to win two Sunday races and break the Reds’ run of victories.

Acosta: “We’ll see if the weather helps us this weekend too”

What are the chances of a KTM victory this year? “We’ll see if the weather will be on our side this weekend,” mused Pedro Acosta at the opening press conference on Thursday. “But we’ve come here feeling confident. The last few races have gone very well for us. It’s a matter of seeing how the bike performs here tomorrow. It does look, however, as though we’ve taken a step forward.”

Will KTM manage to take another step forward with the RC16 this weekend? “As I said, I’ll have to see how I feel on the bike tomorrow first. It does look, however, as though we won’t have any crazy new developments to take a big step forward. Last year I did well here, finishing on the podium in the sprint and fourth in the main race,” said Acosta. Is victory within reach this year? “At the moment, we can’t think about victory. It’s our home GP, but Ducati are currently a step ahead of us, as are Aprilia. We just have to remember how competitive Marc was last year. But it’s not just Marc – the Ducati generally performs very well here. At the moment, we’re still a long way off.”

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18.09.2026 - 08:55