Pedro Acosta “Back Home” at Factory KTM – “Now I Want Everything”
Pedro Acosta felt "back home" during his first KTM factory MotoGP test in Barcelona. After a day focusing on aero…
At the post-season test in Barcelona, MotoGP fans got their first taste of Pedro Acosta in factory KTM colors in the premier class. The Spaniard tested several different front fairings and KTM’s new front-fender wing.
He detailed its impact on the bike’s performance: “[The front-fender wing puts] different forces onto the tyre. We have problems with locking and the front closing as we saw in Misano, Japan, and Indonesia.”
“I also crashed from losing the front and then a high side in Phillip Island. Thailand also. This [wing] helps to make the forces in another way. Also, it’s maybe taking a bit of temperature out of the tyre, for this it’s quite okay.”
While the new part has shown promise, Acosta acknowledged its limitations: “It’s going to be difficult because we cannot use it in all the tracks. We have tracks like Le Mans where we have a lot of wheelie, but it’s cold. At the moment, everything is positive for this [tyre cooling], let’s see if any negatives arrive.”
The post-season test marked the end of the Spaniard’s rookie year in MotoGP. Despite making quite the entry to the premier class, Acosta admitted there was room for even better results:
“We could have achieved even more good results and points. It’s a learning process. We need to take lessons from the season. Otherwise, it was okay. Sometimes you have to breathe and think. You have to use your head to limit the chaos. If you’re a hot-blooded person, it’s hard, but sometimes it’s necessary.”
“In Japan, things went really well. I was competitive and among the top two. Okay, I crashed in both races, but it was still my strongest weekend. We have to stay positive, even when I crash, because crashing and failing is the only way to improve. It’s not easy to handle those tough moments on your own but feeling the love of your family helps a lot. It lets you breathe and keep going.”
Looking ahead to 2025, Acosta is excited about joining the factory KTM squad: “Since I was 14 or 15 years old, I’ve always ridden in orange and blue. I’m happy to move to a factory team like KTM.”
“It will be two more seasons with the people who have supported me on my journey to the premier class. I couldn’t be more grateful. The project is still young but successful. I’ll try to take this baby to the top.”
Stepping up to KTM’s factory team, Acosta will meet with an old acquaintance as Aki Ajo replaces Francesco Guidotti as the team’s manager for the 2025 season. The Fin will switch to the premier class after working with KTM for several years in MotoGP’s smaller classes.
Although KTM has been in the premier class for quite a while now and is waiting for a race win in the premier class for more than two years, Ajo wants to keep the focus on steady progress.
“It’s really important. I see the next two years of course as really important years. But as I have said many times, it’s important to still somehow keep the patience: go step by step and understand what you are doing.
“Maybe of course try to use my experience for communicating very, very closely with the people and talk always to find the same direction, and let’s say keep some patience for the other development. We need to trust each other for the work that we do and keep the patience.
“But as I say, it’s communication and of course keeping the eyes open to see all the time what we need. We have very experienced people in the project a lot, and the key is that lead well and analyse everything well. And the direction is for everyone.”
“Of course, if we keep it simple and see it simple, it’s the development in the factory, it’s the racing team and the test team. This is kind of what we need to always focus on coordinating and communicating well.”
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