Acosta Dominates KTM’s Home Round: Why Spielberg Suits the RC16

• Acosta set the day’s fastest time with a 1:28.381, 0.127 seconds clear of Fermin Aldeguer
• Marc Marquez was fourth, around two tenths down, and still rates Acosta as a title contender
• KTM has been waiting for a Grand Prix win since 2022, Acosta for his first in 55 starts

KTM’s home round has started exactly the way the Mattighofen manufacturer has been hoping for months. Pedro Acosta was the fastest rider in both sessions at Spielberg on Friday, for the first time in his MotoGP career. In the morning, with a cool 12 degrees of air temperature, he was the only rider to dip under 1:30; in the afternoon he set the day’s benchmark with a 1:28.381. Fermin Aldeguer on the Gresini Ducati was 0.127 seconds adrift, returnee Ai Ogura on the Trackhouse Aprilia 0.187 seconds. Championship leaders Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin followed in fourth and fifth. Jorge Martin’s 2024 lap record of 1:27.748 on a Ducati remained out of reach, but for Friday’s best time it was more than enough. Rivals are already talking about a league of his own. Acosta himself is playing down expectations and pointing to Saturday. This weekend is the 15th of 22 race weekends of the 2026 MotoGP season and has been moved from August to September for the first time.

Why is KTM so fast at Spielberg in 2026?

At the Red Bull Ring, KTM benefits from a combination of track layout, tyre construction and low grip that lines up precisely with the strengths of the RC16. On top of that comes a new set-up direction the team has been following since Aragon.

The Red Bull Ring consists of long straights that end in hard braking zones. That stop-and-go layout plays into KTM’s hands, because the RC16 is considered an exceptionally strong braking bike and was also at the front on top speed on Friday. The reliability problems that weighed on the team in the first half of the season are said to have been fixed around a month ago. That means KTM can now use those long straights to the full again.

A second factor comes from Michelin. Because of the high loads, the tyre manufacturer brings a reinforced, harder rear carcass to Spielberg that is otherwise only used in Thailand, Brazil and Indonesia. That construction offers less grip than the standard version. At the season opener in Thailand, the last time this tyre was raced, Acosta won the sprint and finished second in the Grand Prix. Brad Binder, who scored his best result of the season at Buriram, explained the effect like this: the bike simply works better here because the different rear tyre does not load up the front wheel as much. As a result he does not have the big front-end problems he otherwise knows and can ride with more confidence.

The third point is the asphalt. Almost every rider noted that the circuit has aged and offers less grip than it used to. The contrast with Misano a week earlier, where grip levels are extremely high, was correspondingly stark. Pol Espargaro, standing in for the injured Maverick Vinales at Tech3 for the fourth time, sees that as the key: “In my view two factors come together here. One is the hard braking, where Pedro is outstanding and delivers extremely strong performances, and the other is the low grip level.” That makes the braking phases extremely delicate, with the front wheel locking constantly. In the past KTM did well at high-grip circuits, he said, but now it is exactly the other way round. The better weekends now come where grip is poor, such as Barcelona.

What has KTM changed on the bike?

KTM has not brought a new bike to Spielberg, but it has changed the way it works. Motorsport director Pit Beirer confirmed that the team had used the time to bring small improvements. Parts came at Aragon and at Misano, and the set-up was specifically adapted for each circuit. “From Aragon onwards we took a direction that differs from all the years before. That opened up a new working window for us, and that is exactly what we are refining,” Beirer said. Acosta recently praised KTM for taking more risks with set-up changes than it used to.

Acosta has worked on his own style too. At Spielberg he is running the set-up he finished the Misano race with and is trying to be gentler with the front tyre and on the brakes. In the last few races he has deliberately ridden more smoothly, and that seems to be working, he explained on Italian television.

KTM does not, however, have a genuine home advantage through track knowledge. The manufacturer has not carried out a private test at Spielberg for several years, and the Red Bull Ring is not among KTM’s nominated test tracks either.

How big is Acosta’s advantage really?

Over a single lap and on race pace Acosta was ahead of everyone else on Friday, but by his own account he still had something in hand. A sector analysis shows that his ideal lap would have been around two tenths quicker than his actual best time.

Acosta was only fastest in the first sector. In the second and fourth sectors Ogura was marginally ahead of him, and in the third sector he was only fourth behind Alex Marquez, Binder and Martin. That is exactly where he sees his weakness: the long right-hander at Turn 5 and the two long left-handers at Turns 6 and 7. “We are trying to improve there, because Brad was really impressive,” Acosta said about his team-mate, who took seventh and reached Q2 directly for the first time since Barcelona. Binder was only around two tenths behind Acosta and quicker in sector 3. Acosta wants to take data from that, which is unusual for him, because normally he is so far clear of the other KTM riders that the comparison brings little. Acosta also expects Ducati to make a big step in the third sector on Saturday.

There was more in the lap times as well. A 1:28.371 on a used soft tyre was deleted for exceeding track limits. On his final flying lap he was again ahead after the first three sectors but aborted the attempt at the last corner. By that point the tyre already had eight laps on it. On race pace he was also quickest, with a 1:29.431 over three laps on a fresh medium rear. Aldeguer managed a 1:29.799 over seven laps, Marc Marquez a 1:29.792 on a tyre that was 17 laps old by the end of the session.

The opposition drew clear conclusions from all of this. Aldeguer, second on the day, admitted that Acosta was already a little way off in the distance. His team-mate Alex Marquez went further: “On paper he has half a second more pace than anyone else. He will be the man to beat on Saturday and Sunday. He has the chance to take 37 points here.” Marc Marquez spoke of a league of his own, and Jorge Martin called him the favourite, a step ahead of the competition. Even Espargaro joked that it was hard to follow Acosta even out of pit lane.

What are Marc Marquez and Ducati missing at Spielberg?

After Friday, Marc Marquez does not yet see himself in a position to fight for the win, and he blames the harder tyre carcass above all. On used tyres he feels comfortable; on a fast lap he struggles.

Ducati has been a force at Spielberg so far: ten of the twelve Grands Prix at the Red Bull Ring have gone to the Borgo Panigale manufacturer. Marquez himself won here in 2025, and with the same tyre construction. Even so, he was two tenths down on Friday and did not lead a single sector. “The most important thing is that we improved the feeling with the bike from the first to the last run,” he noted. On Saturday, though, another step has to follow, because right now they are not ready to fight for the win.

He names the reason openly. The change of rear carcass alters the character of the bike. In Thailand Ducati suffered a lot with it; at Spielberg they suffer slightly more than at Misano, but less than in Thailand. On used tyres he feels better and does not sense any drop-off. When chasing lap times, on the other hand, he finds this carcass increasingly difficult. He knows in which areas he is losing and wants to adapt his riding style on Saturday to make the front row. His reference points are the 1:28.872 he set on the final lap of his 17-lap-old tyre, as well as the data from Aldeguer, who traditionally gets on well with the harder carcass.

At Aprilia, Friday was a quieter affair. Jorge Martin ended the day fifth and was mainly pleased not to feel any arm pump. Only the Grand Prix over full distance will show whether surgery on his right forearm becomes necessary. Marco Bezzecchi was ninth at 0.430 seconds and only just made Q2, admitting that he had chosen the wrong strategy after the red flag. Apart from Acosta, he said, it is incredibly close. Ogura, returning after a fracture of his left thumb, set the third-fastest time, but his race pace was less strong.

Further back in the field, Francesco Bagnaia had problems again. The three-time Spielberg winner was 18th at 0.885 seconds and missed direct Q2 entry for the fifth time in a row. Espargaro, second in the morning, ended the afternoon session 15th. Alex Marquez crashed at the exit of Turn 1 shortly before the end, which brought out a red flag. He was unhurt, got on his second bike and still made it through to Q2.

Is Pedro Acosta still a title contender in MotoGP 2026?

Despite a 65-point deficit, Marc Marquez explicitly counts Acosta among the title contenders. Acosta is fifth in the standings on 209 points, with eight race weekends still to come.

“He is in the championship fight. We still have eight races and he is only 65 points behind. I was more than 100 behind, so he is in the title race too,” Marquez said. The world champion made up a 102-point deficit between Mugello and Misano. At the top, Marquez and Martin are level on 274 points each, followed by Bezzecchi on 241 and Fabio Di Giannantonio on 223. Behind Acosta come Ogura on 203 and Raul Fernandez on 199.

Acosta’s deficit has a back story. At Barcelona he was taken out by Ogura at the final corner while running fourth. At Brno the KTM failed in both the sprint and the Grand Prix, leaving the weekend without points. At Assen the bike caused trouble again in qualifying, the sprint brought just one point, and on Sunday he had to retire because of carpal tunnel syndrome in his right hand and undergo surgery. After Assen he was seventh, 60 points down. Since then he has lost only five further points to the lead across four race weekends. His weakest result was eighth in the Sachsenring sprint; at Aragon and Misano he finished second and third. Across those four weekends Marquez scored 121 points, Martin 81, Acosta 76 and Alex Marquez 75.

That leaves Marquez with a dilemma: denying Acosta 37 points in a single weekend matters, but how much risk should the championship leader take against a rider who is not among his direct rivals? In that equation Acosta has nothing to lose. A win is his primary goal; anything beyond that would be a bonus.

When did KTM last win a Grand Prix?

KTM has not won a Grand Prix since 2022. After 55 MotoGP starts and 15 podiums, Acosta is still waiting for his first win in the premier class.

That makes Acosta the rider with the most podiums without a win in MotoGP history. He threw away his first big chance in Japan in 2024 with a mistake of his own, and after that the bike was usually not up to it. 2026 did not run smoothly for a long time either. After a strong start to the season with the sprint win in Thailand and third place in the United States, the RC16 proved unreliable and too slow. The next podium did not come until Hungary, even though KTM had detuned the engines to protect them from further damage. At Silverstone, Acosta spoke of uncomfortable questions he wanted to put to KTM over the summer break. Beirer now says the entire team has worked itself into the ground over recent weeks, because Acosta is currently the only one who can say clearly and precisely what he needs.

KTM has a special record at the Red Bull Ring. Miguel Oliveira won here in 2020 for Tech3, Brad Binder in 2021 in the wet on slicks for the factory team. On top of that come four further podiums, two each from sprints and Grands Prix, including Binder’s second place in 2023. Acosta himself was third in the sprint and fourth in the Grand Prix at Spielberg in 2025.

Asked about that first win, Beirer answers: “Yes, of course we dream about it, but you cannot talk something like that into existence. You have to deliver it on track.” Acosta, he says, can now fight for the podium at every race weekend, and the wait for the win has already gone on for quite a while.

Why is Acosta playing it down after Friday?

Acosta does not want to turn Friday into a victory prediction and points to the step he expects from Ducati and Aprilia on Saturday. As recently as Thursday he had said that a win was not something to think about at the moment.

“It is only Friday. I do not know,” he said after practice. “Let us wait and see how Ducati and Aprilia improve tomorrow. Aldeguer is fast, Ogura was fast and last year Bezzecchi was extremely fast. Aldeguer showed really strong pace in race trim. So: no pressure.” It had been a good day, he said, but they were not yet where they need to be to win.

At Thursday’s press conference he had dampened expectations even more clearly. Ducati were a step ahead, he said, and Aprilia too. You only had to remember how competitive Marquez had been the previous year, and the Ducati generally works very well at Spielberg. He had not expected any major updates on the bike, but had brought a good feeling from the last races.

For KTM, the weekend also has an emotional dimension. Acosta moves to Ducati after this season, where he will be Marc Marquez’s team-mate in 2027 and 2028. He has spent his entire career with KTM, from the Red Bull Rookies Cup in 2020 through the Moto3 title in 2021 and the Moto2 title in 2023 to MotoGP. A win on home ground would be a fitting end to that relationship. The management of KTM’s new owner Bajaj Auto is on site as well.

KTM chief executive Gottfried Neumeister, who rarely appears at MotoGP races, spoke openly about the departure at Spielberg. He had tried to persuade Acosta to stay. “I still get goosebumps when I think about what he told me. He said it was not about a million more or less.” Acosta had pointed out that, as a Spaniard, he wanted to beat Marquez with the same weapon, even if KTM had a better 850. He had nothing to counter arguments like that, Neumeister said. At the same time he rejected the notion that only Acosta extracts everything from the bike. Behind a great rider, he said, stands a team that makes the difference. For 2027 KTM is going with Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

The sprint starts on Saturday at 3 p.m. over 14 laps, the Grand Prix on Sunday at 2 p.m. over 28 laps. Two weeks later the overseas tour begins in Japan, where according to KTM, Vinales is due to return.

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