Pedro Acosta vs Marc Márquez: they will battle as Ducati team-mates in 2027
MotoGP
Pedro Acosta. A 22-year-old double world champion in two categories and a winner of Grands Prix races in all three. Curator of MotoGP’s finest mullet. Possessor of the thickest of Spanish accents and exponent of a wonderfully angled and dynamic riding style; which he used to very watchable effect by gliding to unlikely podium contention during the opening half of last weekend’s Qatar GP.
Amazingly, the Red Bull KTM man is coming to the end of only his sixth campaign in the world championship, and looks to be heading for a fourth place finish in the MotoGP points table for the second year in a row. Since his ricochet into the class in 2024, Acosta has been able to maximise the properties of KTM’s carbon chassis RC16 and has been the factory’s leading representative, racking up 15 podiums before the elusive maiden MotoGP victory arrived in Austria last September. For further context: KTM’s other three riders have managed just one GP podium between them in 2025 and 2026 so far while Acosta has amassed 10 trophies.
| Year | Class | Motorbike | Championship position |
| 2021 | Moto3 | KTM | 1st |
| 2022 | Moto2 | Kalex | 5th |
| 2023 | Moto2 | Kalex | 1st |
| 2024 | MotoGP | KTM | 6th |
| 2025 | MotoGP | KTM | 4th |
| 2026 | MotoGP | KTM | 4th |
*with two races remaining
At the circuit, Pedro counts on a tight union with crew chief Paul Trevathan and a handful of close technical staff as well as team manager Aki Ajo, who guided the then-teenager through his first steps in grands prix where titles in both Moto3 and Moto2 were won in less than three seasons. Away from the track Acosta, hailing from Murcia but based in Andorra, is surrounded by friends and advisors like former national racer Carmelo Morales, Moto2 rider Alex Escrig and is managed by the same agency that looks after Jorge Martin.
KTM has nurtured him since the days of Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup but episodes like the firm’s recent economic problems (causing frustration at the beginning of 2025 with the lack of development with the KTM RC16) and momentary technical issues during 2026 enforced his decision to jump on a factory Ducati for the next two years.
Acosta will break his long-running association with KTM at the end of the season
Rob Gray/Polarity Photo/KTM
Acosta, who many believe is ‘next in line’ to inherit Marc Márquez’s status at the peak of MotoGP and become leader of the hefty gaggle of Spanish champions and talent, is also the next challenger to try and defeat the Catalan while near the top of his game; and from close proximity. Hardly anyone has succeeded since Marc’s blazed his trail into MotoGP at a similar age to Acosta back in 2013.
Márquez, who stepped closer to an eighth premier class title in Qatar (and could tie with Giacomo Agostini for the most) has made a habit of devouring team-mates, like Dani Pedrosa, Jorge Lorenzo, Pol Espargaro and Pecco Bagnaia and even his own brother in two separate squads. Acosta has taken on the series’ equivalent of reaching Everest’s summit, and he’ll get a full appreciation of the ascent when he swaps orange for red in the coming months.
Pedro (22) and Marc (33) have already raised foils in 2026, in Thailand, Hungary, Indonesia and Malaysia. When the No93 and No37 swap track space MotoGP’s mercury pushes a little higher. Acosta has been injury-free and largely faultless while trying to extract every tenth of a second from the KTM (his prang while leading the Austrian Sprint perhaps his most vulnerable moment but he responded with aplomb the following day at Red Bull Ring). Márquez has been resilient from shoulder and foot injuries to maintain Ducati’s arching reign over the category with the Desmosedici.
Comparisons with Valentino Rossi may be a little premature but stellar MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta is already entertaining us on and off track, just like the nine-time world champion used to
The match-up between the two disparate characters but racers with identical laser-focus and freaky levels of determination, is already one of the throbbing narratives for 2027 and the 850cc era and it will happen at close quarters at Ducati.
“I tried personally to convince him to stay,” KTM CEO Gottfried Neumeister told the media on the eve of the Austrian Grand Prix, “and he said ‘listen Gottfried, it is not about a million [euros] more [for the contract]. I’m Spanish, and even if you make a better 850, I want to beat Marc with the same weapon,’”
“Then you’re disarmed and dismantled,” he added with a smile. “I will always have the best feelings when I see him, and we will fight [together] up until the last day.”
Acosta carries the confidence (near-arrogance) of a young man and a feted athlete who is highly individualistic (he wore a t-shirt with an explicit cartoon, carrying the slogan ‘Breakfast of Champions’ on the eve of the USGP in March). He is still impulsive, reactive and loud but almost always delivers; whether by subverting expectations at circuits where KTM are struggling, or by taking ballsy tactical decisions like to “burn the tyres” in races to see how long he can remain competitive for Prosecco.
When he’s irked, he rushes TV interviews with a series of platitudes as fast as his lap-times. When he’s feeling chatty then he’ll often end his media sessions with a chirpy “thank you boys!” as he leaves to make another slide on his electric scooter in the paddock.
Team-mates in 2027: Márquez and Acosta share a ride in Buriram
Red Bull
Inevitable questions about 2027, Ducati, Márquez and more have met with short shrift since the deal was announced in June. He’s batted away enquiries on his future with a flippancy that says: “Ask me in 2027”.
On other matters he’s pretty engaging in a one-to-one interview, such as measures for what ‘Mount Márquez’ entails. Compared to the slight and youthful figure that announced his MotoGP debut at Qatar in 2024 with one of the overtaking moves of the season on his team-mate-to-be, Acosta is ripped and ready to rip, and sounds as though he might be mentally sharp for the task ahead.
Are you coming up to your physical prime? Looking at you now compared to 2024 is almost like seeing two different people…
I didn’t try anything different, being honest. Also, I arrived here as a kid, being 19-20 and now I’m 22, you know? The passing of the time helps. It’s true when I arrived I was a bit smaller and I needed more strength to move the bike but, thankfully, because I train a lot on a bike I was not getting that tired. For this, it was quite good.
Are there still any circuits or racing conditions that you find punishing?
Thankfully not. Especially when it is hot because Murcia is like that a lot…it’s like living in summer constantly. But I would say that Misano [San Marino] is the toughest track of the whole season because of how much grip there is; how much power you can put into the bike. It means your movements are more aggressive and the bike becomes more physical…but I don’t really change anything for that race.
Physicality of Misano makes San Marino GP one of the toughest tests on the calendar
Red Bull
When you train and prepare for MotoGP, how do you know the right direction and programme?
I was using physical trainers at one stage…but now I am just on my own. Being honest there is a moment where your body ‘tells’ you how to train. We are living in a time, or we are in a world, where it is so easy to learn how to train or what to do, or not to do. I always go with my own physio everywhere and this helps to know when you have to rest because sometimes you have to know when to chill a bit. I make some things like a physical test at the beginning of the season to know about my heart rate, and then how to move it around.
Has your heart rate changed since you entered MotoGP?
It was super-high at the beginning. It was around 210 average. That’s a lot, but I was also a kid. Now I am around 190 average, something like that. When you have people around that train in a similar way – I have a good friendship with [Alex] Escrig and he loves cycling – and you go in a similar direction. It is more fun to do sport together and you take information from many places. I really like to make motocross because it is more fun than cycling and for the heart rate it is such a good training.
Do you subscribe to this off-season ‘bootcamp’ idea? It’s popular with motocross and supercross riders and at compounds like Aldon Baker’s in the USA…
I mean, man, I was in ‘Bakers Factory’ this summer and I think the bigger MotoGP teams or at least the manufacturers need something like that. I also understand that for motocross, to move to one place or the other is easier for making a proper track. Aldon was explaining how he worked with the riders and it was quite awesome to see. It would be quite interesting if someone one day made something quite similar here where the guys could go to train. I like to go on a motorbike a lot and make long runs. It’s what gives me the most fun, where I don’t get bored and can do many days in a row. When I go cycling; I might do three days but the fourth one? No. I like the feeling between the clutch, throttle and brake of a motorcycle.
Is there one part of your physique that you wished could be better?
Since I broke my femur in 2022 I lost mobility in my left leg…but I don’t feel that on my bike. If I can walk properly then it is more than enough.
“If I can walk properly then it is more than enough”!
Rob Gray/Polarity Photo/KTM
Where else do you normally need to be MotoGP race-fit?
I think the people that read this should understand that there are two kinds of races. The ones where we suffer with the tyres and where the first five laps are quite tough but then it gets easier because the bike is moving and is more soft. Then there are races when the rhythm is the same from the first lap until the end: 100% all the way. In Mugello and Misano arm-pump is quite common. Pain in the lower part of the body also. They are races where you push for 45 minutes, full throttle. These ones are tough…but they are for everyone.
Are you a ‘Gym Bro’?
No! I hate it. Everything that is not riding a bike, I hate. But I might do some gym work with friends because it makes it more fun and easy. If you put me on a desert island I would not ask for a bicycle or running shoes. I would want a [motor]bike to prepare myself.
Do you understand other riders that really need to train?
Yeah, because it is what they like to do. I understand also that sport can be a hobby but mine is to take my dirtbike and make some whips
Riding a MotoGP bike is unique, right?
Hmm. It is difficult to adapt yourself again to a MotoGP bike after December to February without using the same bike! A streetbike has nothing similar to compare. I think the most important thing is to be fit enough to jump on the GP bike. You might be on a streetbike and slower than others – when maybe you should be faster – but that’s because you are just focusing on trying to be fast with MotoGP.
