Pol Espargaro: It’s "painful" Pedro Acosta isn't winning because of KTM's limitations
Published: Nov 03, 2025
Arthur Jones
Writer
Acosta has been one of the best performers of the 2025 season, but he is yet to stand on the top step of the podium
Pol Espargaro says it is “painful” to watch Pedro Acosta unable to showcase his full potential due to the limitations of KTM’s MotoGP bike.
As the 2025 season has progressed, Acosta has grown increasingly consistent, having admitted to making too many mistakes early in the year. While his speed had never been in doubt, the newfound maturity and consistency have transformed him into a more complete rider.
In last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the Spaniard battled with the factory Ducati of Francesco Bagnaia to finish second, securing his fourth Sunday podium of the season.
Currently fifth in the championship, he has amassed nearly twice as many points as team-mate Brad Binder, the next highest-placed KTM rider in the standings.
However, as he approaches the end of his sophomore campaign, a victory continues to elude him in MotoGP - a fact often cited by his critics despite his impressive form.
KTM test rider Espargaro, who has closely followed Acosta’s development, believes the 21-year-old would be winning races if he had a faster bike underneath him.
“It's painful to see. It's nice to see he's consistent, but it's painful to see that he's consistently out of the podium [positions]. He's much faster than this,” Espargaro said at Sepang.
“If on another bike, he would be winning races, but we cannot deliver this performance on our bike yet.
“He's riding very well. [In qualifying], he did a 1m57.3s [lap] trying to get a better result. It makes him crash. My ideal lap time would be 1m57.6s, and I'm fast on one lap here [in Sepang]. So he took three or four tenths [of me].
“He's very quick and it's painful to see him not being on the podium every race with his speed.
“But we will try to make the bike faster, at least for the next year, to see him shining more often.”
As the 2025 season has progressed, Acosta has grown increasingly consistent, having admitted to making too many mistakes early in the year. While his speed had never been in doubt, the newfound maturity and consistency have transformed him into a more complete rider.
In last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the Spaniard battled with the factory Ducati of Francesco Bagnaia to finish second, securing his fourth Sunday podium of the season.
Currently fifth in the championship, he has amassed nearly twice as many points as team-mate Brad Binder, the next highest-placed KTM rider in the standings.
However, as he approaches the end of his sophomore campaign, a victory continues to elude him in MotoGP - a fact often cited by his critics despite his impressive form.
KTM test rider Espargaro, who has closely followed Acosta’s development, believes the 21-year-old would be winning races if he had a faster bike underneath him.
“It's painful to see. It's nice to see he's consistent, but it's painful to see that he's consistently out of the podium [positions]. He's much faster than this,” Espargaro said at Sepang.
“If on another bike, he would be winning races, but we cannot deliver this performance on our bike yet.
“He's riding very well. [In qualifying], he did a 1m57.3s [lap] trying to get a better result. It makes him crash. My ideal lap time would be 1m57.6s, and I'm fast on one lap here [in Sepang]. So he took three or four tenths [of me].
“He's very quick and it's painful to see him not being on the podium every race with his speed.
“But we will try to make the bike faster, at least for the next year, to see him shining more often.”
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