Pit Beirer (KTM) on Acosta: "Speed, calm, no mistakes - really strong!"

For KTM Factory Racing, the Hungarian GP at Lake Balaton meant far more than just two second places for Pedro Acosta. The youngster's finishes behind Marc Marquez helped to console the last two events. The Catalunya GP in particular had left its mark. It took a lot of energy to work through the technical faults. The disappointment after scoring zero points in the GP also ran deep - also because Acosta had led all three race sections of the exceptionally dramatic Sunday race. Mugello was also bitter.

KTM Head of Racing Pit Beirer looking back on 6th place in the Italian Grand Prix: "In my eyes, Pedro's GP in Mugello was one of his best performances ever. As sixth on paper, you just don't get noticed - but we could see in the aftermath how strong he was. P6 with a blunt weapon was exceptional."

KTM-Ass: Pedro Acosta machte in Ungarn Punkt auf WM-Rang 3 gut

Foto: Gold and Goose

Pedro Acosta then showed even better form just days later. The 22-year-old finished better than Marc Marquez in Round 8 of the World Championship, but then lost pole to the world champion. In the races, it was only the two Spaniards who were in contention for victory. The fact that the young challenger had to line up behind the nine-time champion twice in the end was anything but a disgrace, as Pit Beirer emphasised.

"If Pedro fights for victory in both races with a Marc Marquez and the two of them take ten seconds off the third in the GP race, then that is worthy of all honours. It was further proof of what a great job Pedro is doing at the moment," praised Pit Beirer after the Balaton GP.

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The man in charge of the racing department in Munderfing explained the world-class performance: "To understand how strong Pedro really was, you have to look at the whole weekend. He was there from a standing start. Like last time, he rode safely and flawlessly into Q2. Putting the bike on row 1 in qualifying helped enormously. When you're right at the front, you simply have other options. And two races with maximum speed and composure at the same time, from start to finish, again without making a mistake in the duel with Marc. That was really strong."

Die bestimmenden Piloten des letzten Events: Pedro Acosta und Marc Marquez

Foto: Gold and Goose

Beirer's conclusion: "Pedro managed to push his bike to the limit for three days and make the best of the situation. What's more, he had the speed to battle hard but fairly with Marc Marquez and the greatness to realise at the right moment that it would be second place. The temptation to overdo it in this situation and throw the bike away is enormous."

As confident and impressive as Pedro Acosta's performance at Lake Balaton was, the other three KTM riders did not fare as well. While "PA37" moved back up to third place in the World Championship, Bastianini finished ninth ahead of Brad Binder after a double long lap. Maverick Vinales finished a very modest 15th.

Looking ahead to 2027, this is a situation that makes KTM less than euphoric. This is because frontman Acosta will join the Ducati Lenovo team in the new 850cc era of MotoGP, and Enea Bastianini will also leave KTM. The future of the two experienced riders Binder and Vinales has not yet been decided.