Pedro Acosta delighted to make his KTM debut: “A dream come true”

You have to go back a long way to find evidence of such precocity. When Pedro Acosta climbed onto the podium at the Portuguese Grand Prix at the start of last season, he became the third youngest rider in history to do so. Beyond his age (19), it was the rookie's rapid adaptation that struck observers: from his first laps, he showed himself to be at the level of the best, securing a podium in his second race. The Mazarrón native immediately drew comparisons with his compatriot Marc Marquez, third in his first GP in 2013 and winner in his second. The spark lit by Pedro Acosta at the very start of the season, however, failed to convert into victory. Despite five podiums, the Moto3 and Moto2 world champion has yet to reach the final stage. In 2025, he will be even more anticipated, with a different status: that of an official rider.

Pedro Acosta will team up with Brad Binder in the KTM factory team, replacing Jack Miller. During the reveal of the livery of the 16 version of KTM and Tech2025 RC3s, the Shark from Mazarrón looked back on his first year in MotoGP and his goals for the coming season. “2024 has been a good year, and we still have some goals to keep in mind. I learned how to control a race and adapt to MotoGP. It was a dream come true to join the factory team after being in Moto3 and Moto2. Having Brad (Binder) as a teammate and helping with the development of the bike will also be a very good point. It will help that he has a lot of experience in the category and I think we will be a good match together. The two main important points for 2025 will be qualifying and then the first few laps of the race. Last year we saw that we had the pace to fight for podiums or wins, but we struggled in qualifying. So these two points will be the most important things to improve during this season.”

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Acosta and Binder have ambition for KTM

If Pedro Acosta does not give a specific objective, neither for himself nor for his team, his teammate Brad Binder does not hide. "My goal for the season is to take what I've learned and take that step forward to fight with the guys in front. We're not far from that." assures the South African. “We finished second in the constructors’ championship, so we still have one more to go. When I see how hard people work at the factory and how much energy there is behind the scenes, it’s clear that we’re going to get there.”

These last two seasons, KTM finished second in the manufacturers' standings behind Ducati. This comeback, also enabled by the fall of the Japanese brands, was accompanied by seven victories, but never a title. Bringing down Ducati will be difficult, but the Italians are not invincible. KTM can also count on a quartet of riders with well-stocked CVs: in addition to Pedro Acosta, the future star of the category and Brad Binder (2 MotoGP victories), the Austrian brand has recruited Enea Bastianini (Ducati) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia), both race winners and world champions in the lower categories. It remains for KTM to provide them with a competitive bike and let the magic happen...

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