The reality Pedro Acosta must “accept” to realise his MotoGP potential

Pedro Acosta proved his speed in MotoGP during his rookie season, but he also displayed a desire to win that he has not yet satisfied.

The Spanish rider, who in 2025 will start his second season in the premier class of Grand Prix racing despite having only contested four seasons in the World Championship as a whole until now, was on the podium nine times last year, including Sprints, but also crashed in five Grands Prix – most notably in Japan where he was chasing race leader Francesco Bagnaia.

Turning his potential into consistent results is clearly a step that Red Bull KTM's Acosta needs to make in order to be a title-contending rider in MotoGP, but it’s also true that the potential he has displayed until now marks Acosta out as a future champion.

Pedro Acosta handed key MotoGP advice

“He’s [Acosta] so talented, isn’t he,” TNT Sports MotoGP pundit Neil Hodgson said in an interview with Crash.net.

“You watch back last season, he finished sixth in the world, [there were] a lot of crashes and he still finished sixth in the world – what a talent.

“I spoke to him [...] at the London Bike Show, and we talked a little bit about crashing [...] and we talked a little bit about the bike.

“He’s just got to accept that, sometimes, fifth place is better than ending up in the gravel. You have to accept the feeling your getting, like that’s the limit.

“You have the experience of years of riding, you know the sensation of ‘I think that’s the limit’ – well, he now knows what the limit is.”

Hodgson said that eliminating the crashes leaves the question of KTM’s technical performance to answer with regards to how competitive Acosta can be in 2025.

“So, if he can crash a little bit less – which I’m sure he will – you just need KTM to make that step forward.

“From the preseason, I don’t think they have. I’m a bit confused. I look at the other KTM riders, they’ve done nothing special; Pedro [Acosta] wasn’t slow, like it looked like he was making the difference.

“I feel like I’m not confident going into the start of the season thinking ‘KTM have made a step which is going to enable Pedro to fight for the title’ – I don’t think that’s going to be the case.

“I hope I’m wrong.”

Watch all the action from the 2025 MotoGP season live on TNT Sports and discovery+ starting with the Thailand Grand Prix on Friday 28th February. TNT Sports and discovery+ is the home of motorbikes with coverage of every race from MotoGP, FIM World Superbikes, Bennetts British Superbikes and FIM Speedway GP. Follow @tntsportsbikes to keep up with all the action on social.