World Championship fourth-placed rider Pedro Acosta (KTM) says: “It’s more a lack of speed than a lack of points”

With his first victory in the premier class, a huge weight has been lifted from Pedro Acosta’s shoulders; it took the talented Spaniard 56 attempts to achieve this triumph. “It’s been a long time since my last win,” smiled the KTM star on Thursday in Motegi. “It’s also been a long time since we’ve had the chance to fight for a win. I’m delighted for KTM too; it’s taken a while for a result like this to be possible again.”

At the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Acosta was in a league of his own in both races; he threw away the sprint victory after a lapse in concentration whilst clearly leading. The picturesque circuit in Styria has many brutal braking zones, where skill is required – something both the KTM RC16 and Acosta possess. And that will also come in handy at Motegi.

Pedro Acosta sees Aprilia and Ducati as the favourites

Nevertheless, Pedro doesn’t dare to make any predictions: “We all know how fast Aprilia is at the moment. Jorge Martín has shown astonishing pace in the Grands Prix since the summer break. Marc Márquez will also be in the mix at the front, and Pecco Bagnaia was extremely fast at Motegi last year. I’ve shown a lot of potential here since my first MotoGP race, but I’ve never managed to turn that into a result. Perhaps I need to think about it less and instead try to be as competitive as possible. I’m not far off third place in the overall standings – that’s my goal.”

The standings ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix: 1. Jorge Martin (Aprilia), 306 points. 2. Marc Marquez (Ducati), 294. 3. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia), 264. 4. Pedro Acosta (KTM), 234. 5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Ducati), 230. 6. Ai Ogura (Aprilia), 222. 7. Raul Fernandez (Aprilia), 203.

Following his victory at Spielberg, Marc Marquez handed the favourite’s tag to Acosta, but a 72-point gap to the top of the World Championship standings is a huge one. “We’re a long way behind, but more in terms of pace than points,” says the KTM star. “It was actually a surprise even to us that we were so competitive in Austria. I struggled badly there in 2024, but less so in 2025. We’re usually quick at Motegi, but I’ve got no expectations because I’ve always had problems with tyre life there. Let’s see how it goes with the new tarmac and how it feels on the bike.”

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02.10.2026 - 01:55