Pol Espargaro picks out KTM MotoGP “rotation” issue vs Ducati
Pol Espargaro explains the MotoGP cornering phase where KTM couldn't match Ducati.
During his final MotoGP appearance of the season at Portimao, KTM test and replacement rider Pol Espargaro was able to confirm a specific area where the RC16 needs to improve relative to Ducati.
Espargaro spent most of the grand prix behind the VR46 Ducati of Fabio di Giannantonio, on his way to an eventual tenth place.
The way that the Italian was able to quickly rotate the GP25 in the middle of the long 180-degree penultimate corner caught Espargaro’s eye.
“I had di Giannantonio in front for many laps and there are places like corner 14 where you are turning, and in the middle of the corner they touch the throttle and they just rotate,” Espargaro said.
“It is not a massive thing. It’s a little thing. I believe it is aero. I think we touched it - we know how to touch it and have improved it for next year.
“But it’s just this f**king rotating in the middle of the corner that allows them to pick up the bike a little bit [earlier].
“And then it’s an effect that keeps increasing on the exit of the corner and that’s what we are missing.”
Although confident that KTM will make a step with its 2026 machine, Espargaro admits they don’t know what the other manufacturers also have in the pipeline.
“I know what we are about to bring to the guys and its promising,” Espargaro said.
“So we are going to do a step up, but we cannot know what the others are going to bring: What Ducati is going to bring. [even] if they don’t have so many resources to put on because they have no concessions. But Honda is improving quite a lot, Yamaha is making progression and Aprilia is already good.
“Looking at our performance and our bike, at the things that are coming, we are going to make a step up and Pedro [Acosta] is in an amazing moment. If we can take profit of that momentum, then hopefully next year is going to be very good.”
Acosta, as low as 13th in the world championship after COTA, fought back to finish fourth overall in the 2025 standings with all 12 of his podiums (Sprint and GP) achieved during the second half of the season.
The Spaniard was then fifth fastest at the Valencia post-race test, but even closer to the top in terms of his average pace:
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
