Confident, Pedro Acosta is aiming for a top 5 finish after the Buriram tests

Still searching for his first victory in MotoGPPedro Acosta completed the MotoGP pre-season tests rather satisfied with his pace on the 2026 version of the KTM RC16. Present in the top 5 of this Sunday morning's session, where the majority of the field took part in qualifying simulations at a time close to the real qualifying sessions, Acosta believes he doesn't need much to be at the top of the standings.

"I'm quite happy, to be honest.", he told the official MotoGP website. “I’m quite competitive in the morning qualifying simulations. I’m still lacking a bit, of course, but that’s always the case with me! I’m quite happy to be in the top 5 in the morning, and then the race simulations in the afternoon were promising. Ducati and Aprilia seem to have a bit of an edge over us, but it’s also worth noting that this is probably not the best circuit for us, so overall I’m quite happy.”

While the one-lap pace seems quite good for the Austrian machine ridden by the Shark of Mazarrón, the first race of the year, scheduled for next weekend on the same Buriram circuit, promises to be a different story. During the afternoon session, Acosta was nevertheless able to experience a race simulation, and what he felt, particularly with the rear tire, left him with a positive impression.

“Racing is a different story. We’ll see at the start of the Grand Prix weekend next weekend, but you never really know until you’re actually in the thick of the competition. We’ll keep our feet on the ground and see where we stand. We managed to survive a bit better than expected with the rear tire! Ducati and Aprilia seem to have faster bikes, so I’d be happy if I could finish the first race of the year in the top five – that’s promising.” »

After the financial difficulties experienced by KTM in recent years, Pedro Acosta believes that his machine is now performing at a higher level, and allows him to project himself more regularly on good qualifying times, where at the beginning of 2025 it was sometimes necessary to throw all his strength into the battle to hope to unlock a competitive time.

"I'm much more confident. Last year, you really had to have a lot of heart and really push hard to get a good time, now we can have a method and be able to replicate the best times, so I'm happy."

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