Pedro Acosta’s approach to the 2025 MotoGP season changed dramatically as he shifted his focus from championship expectations to personal performance, influencing his later progress despite KTM’s limited technical gains. The rookie sensation, following his remarkable 2024 debut, faced an unexpectedly challenging year as KTM failed to deliver significant improvements, impacting his MotoGP 2025 performance.
KTM and Acosta entered 2025 with hopes of competing for race victories and potentially challenging for the world championship, thanks to the momentum of Acosta’s debut season. However, the anticipated fight at the front did not materialize as planned. Despite their efforts, Acosta reached his first podium finish only in the latter half of the season, and a maiden victory still eluded him by the year’s end.
Technical Limitations Hold Back KTM Progress
The KTM RC16 suffered notably from excessive tyre degradation and underperformance in braking zones, factors that contributed to consistent mid-pack finishes and stoked Acosta’s frustration. While Acosta and the team introduced minor updates after the summer break, these changes proved insufficient to close the gap to leading manufacturers. Acosta explained,
“To be honest, the bike didn’t improve a lot because we didn’t change so much,”
he shared during an interview in Valencia.
The rider highlighted some benefits from revised fairing and swingarm parts, which provided marginal improvements. Nevertheless, KTM continued to face difficulties generating early-race grip, further complicating their efforts to keep pace with their main rivals, Aprilia and Ducati.
Mental Refocus Drives End-of-Season Gains
Reflecting on his season, Acosta credited his better results in the second half to a new mental strategy rather than mechanical advances.
“From the moment I started to forget about the championship dream,”
he admitted, he focused solely on extracting the maximum from his available package. This shift allowed him to find consistency, occasionally secure top-five finishes, and even contend for podium spots during sprint races. He further noted,
“Maybe my mind that is the thing that has grown the most.”
Following arm pump surgery after the Jerez test, Acosta and his crew discovered “some different things” in terms of set-up, but, as he said,
“the bike was not that different.”
He described the early part of the season as a period to forget, hampered by unexplainable challenges and sporadic improvements after adopting a mindset focused on consistency and steady growth as a rider.
Looking Ahead as Rivals Pull Ahead
Although Acosta found satisfaction in personal growth and improved race finishes, a significant performance gap remained compared to the likes of Aprilia and leading manufacturer Ducati. He recognized these limitations, stating,
“We have to be happy in one way, thinking like this, but with it being true that we were missing a lot this season to be as competitive as Aprilia, who improved so much, and Ducati is still the main manufacturer.”
As the 2025 season concludes, Acosta’s journey underscores how mental resilience can shape a season’s results, especially when technical advancement stalls. KTM’s next steps will be crucial as they seek to close the gap to their rivals and offer their talented rider a package more capable of matching his ambitions in the highly competitive world of MotoGP.
