ESPARAGARO SAYS ACOSTA DESERVED HIS FIRST MOTOGP WIN SOONER

Pedro Acosta’s first MotoGP Grand Prix victory, earned at the Red Bull Ring in his 56th premier-class start, was a major reward for both the 22-year-old and KTM. Test riders Pol Espargaró and Dani Pedrosa have helped develop the RC16 alongside the team’s engineers and race riders. Espargaró finished 16th in Spielberg, but said Acosta’s success mattered more than his own result.

“He deserved to win much earlier,” Espargaró said. He cautioned against crediting the victory simply to a suddenly improved motorcycle: in his view, Acosta had been ready to win before Austria. The Spaniard had built his speed steadily, and Espargaró felt his performances in recent races had been “fantastic”—even better than at the Red Bull Ring—though the results had not reflected that pace.

Acosta had also been the fastest rider in Saturday’s sprint, but crashed while leading. “It was his sprint,” Espargaró said, convinced the young KTM rider had been on course to win the short race.

Espargaró expects Acosta to have further chances during the upcoming Asian and Australian rounds, singling out Japan. Motegi is “a pretty similar track” to Spielberg, he said, and Acosta could deliver another strong performance there. At the 2025 Japanese Grand Prix, Acosta’s results were third and 17th.

The Japanese round is scheduled for October 2–4. It remained unclear whether Espargaró would again stand in for Maverick Viñales in Tech3. Viñales took part in the post-race Spielberg test to assess his fitness, with his readiness for a full race weekend still to be determined.