ACOSTA CLAIMS SECOND AFTER RECOVERING FROM SATURDAY MISTAKE AT ARAGON

After a difficult Saturday that nearly derailed his weekend, Pedro Acosta delivered a decisive Sunday performance at Aragon to secure a second place and his first podium since Balaton Park. The comeback was especially meaningful because he had been waiting for a result like this since early June, and he wanted to achieve it in front of Spanish fans.

On Saturday, Acosta paid for a mistake in the sprint: he took the wrong grid position, damaged his KTM RC16, and still managed to finish fourth. On Sunday, he avoided repeating that error and turned the pace into a podium. Starting from sixth, he initially had to work his way through the field, passing Jorge Martin and Raul Fernandez among the Aprilia riders, while Alex Marquez (Ducati) also wasn’t at his best through the opening corners. Acosta gained three places in the first lap and then closed in on Marco Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez.

The race’s standout moment came around lap five on the long one-kilometre straight. With Marc Marquez and “Bez” fighting for the lead at nearly 350 km/h, Acosta used the slipstream and then outbraked Bezzecchi from the outside in a move that drew immediate excitement from the crowd. From there, the contest became a tight, lap-by-lap duel. At times Acosta and Marc Marquez posted identical lap times, with Acosta particularly strong in the downhill braking zone before Turn 14—only to lose ground again on the run toward Turn 16.

Between laps 13 and 15, Marc Marquez changed the rhythm. He strung together three consecutive 1:46s, including two back-to-back best laps, to build a small advantage that Acosta couldn’t fully erase. Acosta ultimately held on to second, while Bezzecchi remained under control behind him. Marc Marquez took the win with Acosta finishing just under two seconds back.

The rest of the KTM effort underlined how close the team was to the front: Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder finished eighth and tenth, respectively, but with a larger gap of 23 seconds to Acosta.

Speaking after the race, Acosta emphasized the significance of ending his podium drought. “Before the spanish fans I was happy, it was trying,” he said. “It looks like we are improving during the weekend. It was a long way to get this podium. Now it’s time to enjoy.”

With the 26 points from Aragon, Acosta moved back to sixth in the championship standings with 189 points, closing some ground on leader Jorge Martin, who had 256.