Pedro Acosta’s blunt assessment of his MotoGP title hopes

Pedro Acosta believes KTM is “far in terms of speed” to be able to stage a MotoGP title challenge, following his maiden victory last week in Austria.

The Spaniard comes to this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi having broken his winning duck in the premier class, 56 races into his career.

It marked his first win since the 2023 Moto2 season and has put him into an outsider’s position in the championship battle, with his points gap now 72 points to Jorge Martin.

Marc Marquez said in Austria he considered Pedro Acosta a title threat.

But when asked about this on Thursday in Japan, he gave a fairly blunt assessment of the situation.

“To be honest, we are far, in terms of speed - not that much in points,” he said.

“Anyway, as I said, I think I should have my own targets.

“Third in the championship is not that far.

“But, like I say, Aprilia is showing a lot of speed, Marc is showing a lot of speed, Pecco - normally - in these Asian rounds is so fast. Now is the time to not think about that, don’t make a mistake, be competitive and see where we are when we arrive to Europe again.”

‘Now is the moment not to think about another win’

Acosta is already being seen as a pre-race favourite in Japan, due to Motegi’s stop-and-go layout suiting his riding style, as was the case in Austria.

He scored a pole position at Motegi in 2024, but crashed out of both races while in a position to fight for victory, and he finished out of the points last season.

“You never know,” he replied when asked if he could grab a second MotoGP win this weekend.

“You know how fast the Aprilia is at the moment; Jorge [Martin] has been showing really high speed in the last couple of GPs after the summer break.

“Marc will be there. Pecco [Bagnaia] was super-fast here last year.

“It’s true that since I arrived in MotoGP here [at Motegi], I was having potential, but never did I finish a race, let’s say.

“Maybe now is the moment to not think too much about that, try to be as competitive as we can.

“We are not far from third in the championship; I still have this as my own target. Let’s try to not make so many mistakes in these Asian rounds and keep going.”