“No more time to lose”: Why Pedro Acosta couldn’t stay at KTM for MotoGP 2027

MotoGP 2027 will see many changes compared to 2026, and Pedro Acosta in the red of the factory Ducati team is not only one of the most significant, but also a necessary one in the eyes of the Murcian himself.

Acosta is two-and-a-half seasons into his MotoGP career now, and has been the leading KTM rider for the majority of that time. He finished one place behind Brad Binder in 2024, his rookie season, and has been untouchable for the other KTM riders since the middle of 2025 when he started focusing on utilising what he had rather than letting the frustration over what he didn’t have boil over and lead to crashes, which is what happened in the first part of 2025 when he realised the RC16 wouldn’t deliver him a title.

The KTM will still not bring him to a world title in 2026, but Acosta was able to sign that Ducati contract early and has been able to continue through the current season in the knowledge that things should change for next year at Ducati.

Nothing is guaranteed, of course, thanks to regulation change for next year, but Ducati has been the benchmark in MotoGP for most of the last five seasons and so Acosta should finally have a bike that he can use to reach the pinnacle of motorcycle racing next season.

It’s for this reason that Acosta felt he had no choice but to leave KTM, with which he’s been associated since before his grand prix career began in 2021.

“Things come like that,” said Pedro Acosta on Friday at the German MotoGP.

“At the end, I say already since I signed my factory [KTM] contract that the only thing that I wanted was a bike to win the championship. 

“This bike, it’s clear that it doesn't arrive yet, and, being honest, I have no more time to lose.

“I mean, I get a lot of experience in KTM, but also I was feeling that was the challenge that I need for my career.”

Acosta also spoke positively of KTM’s prospects next year given their newly announced factory line-up of Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

“They take this world champion, that is Alex [Marquez], and a guy that now is the number two of Ducati at the moment [Di Giannantonio],” he said.

“They have good cards to play next year.”