“Being able to fight, that’s the key with Pedro”: KTM on Acosta’s MotoGP season - Exclusive

Pedro Acosta turned around a frustrating start to deliver twelve rostrums during the second half of the 2025 MotoGP season.

A debut victory continues to elude the former Moto3 and Moto2 world champion, despite half of his podiums being runner-up finishes.

But which races stood out for his factory KTM crew chief Paul Trevathan?

“I was super proud of him in the Sepang race, because of the management situation with the tyres,” Trevathan told Crash.net.

“We'd heard everyone say, ‘Pedro's too hard [on the tyres]’. But how he controlled that race was very good.

“Then I would say the best pure performance was perhaps the Sprint in Portimao. Where he could really fight from the beginning to the end. So, this was another fantastic race.”

After a race long brawl, Pedro Acosta took the chequered flag between Alex Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi, just 0.120s from victory.

“That's the key with Pedro”

The Sprint charge fuelled hopes of a grand prix victory challenge. But Bezzecchi and Aprilia upped their game, while Acosta was again left in Marquez’s slipstream, for third.

“We were disappointed with the podium on the Sunday, because he wants to fight,” Trevathan said.

“That's the key with Pedro. There's no guarantee in life that he'll win a MotoGP World Championship. But for him, it's the feeling of fighting for something. And if he can't do it, ‘OK, I can live with it’. But not being able to fight, that is the part that really, really frustrates him.

“I think looking back, also the Balaton race [second place] was also another super performance. He's taking steps, you know.”

“Frustrating that we didn't get that win for him”

Few predicted Acosta would still be without a victory after two seasons in the premier class, but if KTM’s moniker is ‘Ready to Race’, Acosta is now ‘Ready to Win’.

“To be honest, yes,” replied Trevathan. “If I see his roundness of how he's working now, how he puts a whole weekend together.

“Because MotoGP, at this level, it all starts on FP1. Friday is such an important day for the rest of the weekend. This is super important.

“So how he's bringing all this to the game every week now. And then understanding it all. Understanding the preparation for each event. He's really well rounded.

“It's frustrating that we didn't get that win for him, don't get me wrong. But I think he's also understanding a lot more about the sport.”

“You see the tension, you feel it”

That includes qualifying, where Acosta initially struggled to put his best sectors together on the same lap, contributing to starting twelfth or lower on the grid at four consecutive early-season rounds.

By contrast, he qualified on the front two rows for all of the last six events.

“It's true. I think if you look back at many of our qualifying performances, he had quite a big delta between his best lap time and ideal lap time,” Trevathan said of the qualifying step. “All of us have been trying to work on this a little bit.

"Before, it was the will and pure natural talent that got the results we had last year. But now it's all about calculated risk: How do I get the maximum out of it on this track? What's my strong point? What's my weak point? ‘Okay, I can't do better there, but I can do better there’.

“He's understanding all of this much, much better. He’s adapting and feeling in control. Not just... wide open! Now it's about having a plan and understanding how to put a lap together.

“That’s what you need. That control. Then you're taking calculated risks.

“People don't understand what a 'time attack' lap really is… Some riders say it's ‘all or nothing’. You see the tension, you feel it.

“And because the riders are doing it so often now, with the weekend format, they're all getting really good at it. That’s also why, coming as a rookie, it’s one of the biggest things to get your head around.

“You've also got to remember we're on race tyres. We don't have a qualifying tyre. So it's pure performance.

“It's a massive part of our sport now because I think we've taken these bikes to the very peak of performance. Every little thing is important to get the end result.”

Acosta's second-half surge took him to fourth place in the world championship standings.

KTM will unveil its 2026 MotoGP livery next Tuesday (January 27), before Acosta and his fellow RC16 riders take to the track at the Sepang test in early February.