Espargaro on Acosta’s chances of victory: “I hope he’s ready”

The MotoGP World Championship is making a stop at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg before heading to Asia for the Motegi round. Veteran rider Pol Espargaro (35) is once again on the starting grid for Red Bull KTM Tech3, standing in for his compatriot Maverick Vinales (31), who is still carrying an injury. For KTM, Spielberg is the highlight of the racing calendar – something the Catalan is well aware of. Espargaro himself narrowly missed out on his first MotoGP victory at Spielberg in 2020.

In the paddock, Pol Espargaro was also asked about Red Bull KTM’s star rider, Pedro Acosta. ‘Polycio’ was prepared for the question: ‘I hope it’s finally going to happen this weekend! If there’s one place it can happen, it has to be here! There are some tough braking zones here. I’m glad that Pedro is carrying on straight here after good results at Aragon and Misano. Those were tricky circuits where we actually always had more problems than expected. It should actually be even better here – but I don’t know by how much, or whether it’ll be enough for Pedro to win.”

Pedro Acosta wurde zuletzt in Aragon (2.) und Misano (3.) bejubelt

Foto: Gold and Goose

Espargaro, who is primarily involved in developing the 850cc KTM and will also be riding it next Monday in Spielberg: “Pedro deserves it; he should have won a race much earlier. If I haven’t won a race in my career and I’ve deserved a few victories – then he’s deserved far more than he’s achieved. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t good enough. He’s simply riding like a dream! He’s, if not the best rider at the moment. I think he’ll secure the win soon.”

Speaking about his compatriot and KTM’s problem child, Maverick Viñales, Pol Espargaró says: “I’ve been in touch with Maverick. He’s in close contact with KTM, Red Bull and the medical team. He’s feeling better and better. His test results were good, as far as I know. We’re now hoping it’ll be in Japan. He’s preparing for that too.”

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19.09.2026 - 08:35