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Instead of great excitement – satisfaction in Qatar for KTM rider Acosta (6th)

At the start of the Desert GP in Qatar, KTM’s frontrunner even overtook World Championship favourite Marc Márquez. In the end, he finished in sixth place. This time, there was no reason to get upset; Acosta left the track satisfied.

MotoGP

08.11.2026 - 21:46

This article is an automatically generated English version. The Original Article was published in German.

KTM-Werksfahrer Pedro Acosta wurde nach gutem Start zurückgereicht
© Gold and Goose

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The fact that KTM factory rider Pedro Acosta didn’t lose his cool after finishing sixth at the Qatar Desert Grand Prix becomes clear when you look at Friday’s statistics. In qualifying, the young Spaniard had failed to secure direct entry into Q2 for the first time in the 2026 season. On the high-grip Losail Circuit, he simply lacked the speed to consistently compete at the front. On top of that, technical issues prevented Acosta from getting on with his work on two occasions.

In the sprint race, the number 37 rider, like most riders, had started on medium tyres. That strategy was enough to secure 6th place on Saturday – and Acosta emerged as the top-placed KTM rider. At the Qatar Grand Prix, however, he was unable to repeat this feat, despite a race that unfolded in a very similar fashion . On lap 18 , Acosta was overtaken by Tech3 rider Enea Bastianini. He crossed the line half a second behind the Italian and ten seconds behind the winner, Bezzecchi .

Initially, things were looking very promising for the official works team following another strong start. Acosta stuck close to the calculated riding of Marc Márquez and overtook him on the third lap. However, the dream of a podium finish did not materialise in the heat of Qatar. After the race, Acosta confirmed issues with tyre pressure but pointed to another problem: “Yes, the tyre pressure was an issue, but we had another problem with the bike that made the situation even worse. It was a problem that cropped up for the first time in the GP. We still need to understand what it was and why I slowed down.” The fact is: no penalty for falling below the minimum tyre pressure was issued after the GP.

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Acosta immediately added: “But in any case, I didn’t have the pace to battle with Marc. Finishing fourth would normally have been possible, perhaps even a fight for the podium – but I had to let Marc go. He rode cautiously at the start, didn’t want to decide the race right at the beginning, but he stepped it up later on. Honestly – I’m not dissatisfied with how the races ended. I’m actually happy, because we made the right decisions here. It was a risk, but we managed to turn the weekend around.”

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Was it perhaps the conditions that held Acosta back? Here, too, the fourth-placed rider in the World Championship responded calmly and succinctly: “No, I can’t say the track changed much, and the wind was fine as well.”

A glance at the World Championship standings was not particularly encouraging for Acosta. Despite scoring 10 points on two occasions for sixth-place finishes, third-placed Bezzecchi pulled further ahead of Acosta, whilst Ai Ogura closed the gap from behind (15 points behind). Trailing Bezzecchi by 48 points, the chance of ending the KTM era in third place is minimal. The World Championship race had already been decided after Saturday’s sprint.

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