MotoGP | Acosta visits KTM factory to “see who’s boss”

On Saturday afternoon, following the German Grand Prix Sprint, Motorsport.com asked Pedro Acosta what his plans were for the MotoGP season’s summer break, which runs from this Monday until the first week of August, when racing resumes with the British Grand Prix.

The response of the “phenomenon” was surprising. “On Monday (today, ed.) I will go to Austria for a week, or whatever it takes. I will go to the factory (KTM) to see, learn and know,” he said.

On Sunday afternoon, the Spaniard explained his plans in more detail and the truth is that for a boy who just turned 20 on May 25, the aplomb with which he explains his concerns, how clear he has things and, above all, the ability to not say much but make everything very clear, are surprising.

The impression is that Pedro will go to KTM to understand who he has to talk to, “who’s in charge” and to understand if his bet on this manufacturer is the right one or, due to the contract, he is not in the right place to pursue his dreams.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Acosta replied when asked about the gap between Ducati and KTM, which instead of decreasing seems to be increasing, even within the same race weekend the Italian bikes improve from Friday to Sunday, while the Austrian bikes seem to be in a stalemate. Pedro goes to Mattighofen to get a picture of the situation.

“That’s right, I have a one-way ticket but no return. We’ll see how many days or weeks I’ll be there,” he said with his usual coolness.

“It’s always better to communicate things face to face, even if I have to stay there for a week or two. Every day there are new questions, different ways of seeing things and there is always something to do in a factory. Also to know the people, even if I’ve been with them for a long time, the Moto3 team is very different, there are only three people, in Moto2 we were on a Kalex, so I don’t know all the people who work on the project and I think it’s important to know who I can use at certain times and why,” explained Pedro, who will be accompanied by his technical manager, Paul Trevathan, and his suspension manager, Miguel Olivenza.

In the midst of the German GP, ​​KTM was hit by the news of the farewell of its chief technology officer, the Italian Fabiano Sterlacchini, former right-hand man of Gigi Dall’Igna at Ducati, who after three years of organizing the racing department did not renew his contract for 2025 and the KTM bosses preferred that he leave his position starting this weekend.

“I don’t know what happened,” Acosta said. “Seeing what happened this weekend at Sachsenring, it would have happened the same thing with Fabiano or without him. The conclusion I came to is that it’s a bit strange the management of the races in KTM, because Fabiano didn’t come to all the Grands Prix, and I only saw him in three of the ones I attended,” the Spaniard said.

“One of the reasons I wanted to go to Austria was to sit down with him (Sterlacchini) and have him explain a lot of things that, maybe for another rider, can be very natural or normal because he’s been here a long time and has seen a lot of things, but I don’t understand them and I can’t find anyone who can explain them to me. One of the main reasons I’m going to Austria was to sit down with him and talk about these things.” Which for obvious reasons will no longer be possible.

“I insist: Rome was not built in a day, I don’t know if we will have a tower like the one in Pisa, but we will try to make it straight,” he joked.

You don’t have to be a genius to understand that Acosta wants to know if KTM is pushing in the same direction. The phenomenon has clear ideas and objectives, which are none other than to become, sooner or later, MotoGP champion, and he must understand if he is in the right place to achieve it or if he can “organize” what is in his power so that everyone is rowing in the same direction.

“The first thing I’ll do when I arrive is to meet the people and see what’s going on, how everything works and what everyone does. When I go to sleep and understand all the roles and who’s in charge in one place and who’s in charge in another, who’s the boss of the chassis and who’s the boss on the other side, why are things done? Because now it’s very easy to criticize, ask or demand things that I, for the moment, don’t know how they go. I prefer to first find out how things go and why things aren’t done or why they are done, or who gives power to one or takes it away from the other, to know which way to go,” clarified the two-time world champion, who goes to his factory so that those who know him as a driver also know the human dimension.

“I knew from the beginning (before moving to MotoGP) that I wanted to be here, and I still want to be here. Nobody put me in the lion’s den, now it’s up to me to get out,” said the GasGas Tech3 rider, who is currently sixth in the overall standings, first of the KTMs, with 110 points.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 together with his suspension technician

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images