EX-KTM LEADER SAYS PEDRO ACOSTA MUST ADAPT HIS RIDING STYLE FOR DUCATI LIKE MARQUEZ DID

Pedro Acosta’s rise has already set up a fascinating storyline for his Ducati future: when he joins Marc Marquez in the same factory garage in 2027, the Spaniards’ rivalry will move from “against each other” to “together in the same team.” Even before that switch, the pair have been trading podiums and momentum on different machinery, with their 2026 battles underlining both the promise and the challenge Acosta will face when he changes bikes.

In 2026, Acosta and Marquez have shared the podium five times, including Sprint races, with the most recent result coming at the Aragon Grand Prix. There, Acosta finished second behind Marquez, but he could not close the gap to the Ducati pace. The key takeaway from the weekend was that Acosta’s KTM could not match the performance of Marquez’s Ducati—despite the effort and intensity he brought to the fight.

That context matters because Alberto Giribuola, a former KTM technical strategist and crew chief, believes Acosta will need to “reset” and then fine-tune his approach to suit Ducati. Speaking via Giovanni Zamagni’s YouTube channel, Giribuola said Acosta will be quick from the start, but that the transition won’t be purely about speed—it will be about adapting what works.

“Yeah, he’ll be fast,” Giribuola said of Acosta’s move to Ducati. “At first, I think he’ll need a little reset because, after all, his riding on the KTM was spectacular, excellent, and he managed to work around a limitation the KTM had.”

Giribuola’s main point was that the riding style that helped Acosta extract results from the KTM may not translate directly to the Ducati. “But in terms of riding style, I think he’ll have to adjust just a bit, like Marc did – adapting to change those few things that pay off more on the Ducati, because with the KTM other things might pay off more, so he’ll have to fine-tune a bit where to focus his efforts.”

The comparison to Marquez is deliberate. Giribuola framed Acosta’s situation as similar to what Marquez experienced when he left Honda: a period of adaptation before the new package and its strengths can be fully exploited.

Acosta, meanwhile, is aware that the off-track noise should be kept to a minimum as the rivalry builds. The article notes that he wants to “do his talking on the track” rather than speaking too much before joining Marquez at Ducati, partly because he knows he still has to get used to a new team, bike, and working method.

While Marquez may initially hold the advantage when the Ducati partnership begins, the message from Acosta’s KTM performances is clear: even on less competitive machinery, he has shown he can challenge and pressure the front. On equal equipment, Giribuola’s view implies Acosta could become Marquez’s toughest opponent yet.