When it’s meant to happen, it will

KTM young gun Pedro Acosta insists he isn’t frustrated by the lack of a race win as he nears the end of his second season in MotoGP.

Acosta was hailed as the next big star when he made his MotoGP debut at the age of just 19 in 2024. Since then, he has scored seven podiums and one pole position, and comfortably outperformed his more experienced KTM stablemates, but a victory has remained elusive so far.

His best chance came at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix, where he secured pole on the Tech3 KTM, but he crashed out of both races while running at the front.

Non-Ducati victories have become increasingly rare in the current era, with the Borgo Panigale marque losing just three grands prix since the beginning of the 2024 season. KTM itself has gone winless since the Thai Grand Prix in October 2022.

However, Acosta isn’t concerned about these statistics as he remains confident his time will come in MotoGP.

“I’ve now had two consecutive zeros due to situations beyond my control, so we’ll see how this race turns out,” he said in reference to the San Marino and Japanese grands prix.

“Am I frustrated at not winning? Not really, because [while] it’s often been my fault, like at the beginning of the year when I wasn’t in the right place, now there are times when it’s out of your hands. When it’s meant to happen, it will happen.

“Since Le Mans, I’m riding very well, better than last year, and I’ve found the consistency to be among the top five. One day things go better and another worse, but I’m looking for a consistency that we didn’t have last year. I’m consistent and looking for the right moment.”

After taking his ninth world title in Japan, Marquez said his goal for the remainder of the season is to “enjoy” racing again, explaininghe doesn’t want to put pressure on himself to surpass his record of 13 grand prix wins in a season.

However, Acosta conceded that opportunities to score a race win will remain limited, stressing that Marquez will not ease off just because he has already wrapped up the championship.

“It depends on how you look at it,” he said. “Now he can risk everything he wants; falling now doesn’t penalise him. If he has to go for an impossible victory, he’ll try. 

“He has nothing to lose, it’s the rest of us who have something to lose, and we have nothing to gain either. I think Marc will continue at the same level. 

“If he went for the win at Misano, which was the most difficult and he went for it without hesitation, it will be the same for the rest of the season.”
 
Acosta finished second in the Indonesian GP last year, just 1.4s behind eventual champion Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati.

Pedro Acosta, Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

The Spaniard expects to be competitive again at Mandalika, especially with KTM having found a solution for the tyre woes that plagued its performance in Japan last weekend.

“I remember that last year in Japan I crashed in both races, but in Indonesia we took a step forward and finished both,” he recalled. “The sprint didn’t go well because we fell behind, but the long race was one of the best of the year. I didn’t finish too far behind Jorge Martin and I had a good pace throughout the race. 

“I think we’ve found something to solve what happened to us in Japan with the tyres. Now we have to get on the bike this Friday to understand how we can do this weekend. 

“I think the KTM can work very well here because it did last year, although it’s also true that in Japan last year the bike was going very well and we crashed. I think we can be competitive and the tyres they bring here help us, they are more like the ones we usually use in Europe.”

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– The Autosport.com Team