Pedro Acosta concluded the Sepang MotoGP pre-season test feeling moderately satisfied, rating his experience as “six out of ten happy.” The Spanish rider believes the latest KTM RC16 machine showed more promise than the official times suggested, even though it remains slower than the rival Ducati bikes. Acosta posted the eighth-fastest lap on day two, clocking a best time of 1m 57.116s during the test.
Insights on KTM’s True Speed Potential
Acosta shared insights about the bike’s genuine pace potential, estimating a realistic lap time closer to 1m 56.8s, which would place it within the top five of the timesheet.
“I would say inside the top five, around 1m 56.8s, something like this,”
Acosta said regarding the RC16’s time-attack capability. However, he noted that his focus during the test was split across several tasks, including chassis evaluations on the first day. On day two, he rode last year’s KTM model, while on day three, he conducted comparisons between the standard and new bikes. He acknowledged complications with tire timing during runs intended for outright lap records.
“For this, we didn’t put the new tyre at the right moment, but we did other things… The time attack was not really my target.” – Pedro Acosta, Rider
Strong Sprint Simulation Performance
Acosta showed marked improvement in the Sprint race simulation, where he was the closest KTM rider behind the factory Ducati team led by Alex Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia, and Marc Marquez. Completing the ten-lap simulation, Acosta finished 6.482 seconds behind pace-setter Alex Marquez and just under four seconds off Marc Marquez’s time. This performance compared favorably to his third-place finish in the Sprint race during last October’s Grand Prix, where he was 5.155 seconds behind winner Bagnaia.
Learning from Marc Marquez in Testing
During the simulation, Acosta had the opportunity to follow Marc Marquez, the rider rumored to be joining Ducati alongside him in 2027. Reflecting on this experience, Acosta noted unexpected findings in their race simulation.
“There were things that we were not expecting in that race simulation, to be honest,”
he said. He highlighted the contrast in tire conditions, explaining how he was closing in on Marquez’s slower lap times despite the latter’s worn tires.
“First of all, Marc, his last two laps I was behind him, catching him a lot. I mean, his tyres were already dead and I was fresh. But anyway, it was in the opposite way, it was the same effect.” – Pedro Acosta, Rider
Plans to Enhance KTM’s Package Before Thailand
Acosta remains aware that KTM has some catching up to do with Ducati’s superior pace but plans to focus on optimizing the bike for the upcoming Thailand race.
“We are still slower than Ducati, but my target from here was to have a clear image in my head of what pieces we have to bring to Thailand and try to make the best package we have,”
he explained. He also acknowledged unexpected behaviors from the bike during the simulation that require further analysis.
“[The Sprint sim] was not ‘wow’, let’s say, in my opinion. But everything was not as bad as last year in the test. Ducati is still a step forward but looks like the [KTM] bike is working better. Now my target is to create pure speed in Thailand, because here I was not really wanting to crash. I wanted to spend time on track and try to be as fast as I could without mistakes.” – Pedro Acosta, Rider
Overall Satisfaction and Team Progress at Sepang
Evaluating his overall performance and development progress, Acosta expressed satisfaction with how the team has managed operations and bike setup. He emphasized that his focus during the test was more on development than outright positioning.
“I’m six out of ten happy. I’m happy about my performance, how we managed things, how the things in the box are going,”
he said, noting again the tire strategy issue during time-attack attempts.
“We didn’t put the tyre in the right moment for the time attack, but I was not focusing purely on positions. I was purely focusing on the job.” – Pedro Acosta, Rider
Other KTM riders included Tech3’s Maverick Vinales, who narrowly missed Acosta’s time attack effort to finish ninth overall. Fellow KTM factory riders Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder placed 11th and 13th respectively in the combined standings, confirming the ongoing challenge to bridge the gap to the Ducati factory contenders.
