The opening half of the 2025 MotoGP season was generally tough for KTM, but with the favor of Pedro A Costa, it ended with two podium finishes courtesy of Pedro A Costa, which now serves as the “extra motivation” for the Austrian factory.
Acosta began the season as a first-year rider for the factory KTM team, but Tech3 team Maverick Vinales scored a top-six finish, with Pedro Acosta potentially flirting in 2026 with a switch to Ducati.
However, Acosta was the first KTM podium finish of the season at BRNO, finishing second in the sprint and third in the Czech Grand Prix.
Aki Ajo, team manager for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, considers Acosta’s performance at BRNO to KTM, a result of the Spanish rider’s job to better manage his predictions for the first half of his second season at MotoGP, and his first factory team.
“It’s certainly a special motivation for all of us, but of course, especially for riders, winter time was a bit tough for us, especially for many reasons,” Ajo said ahead of Motogp.com’s Gear Up preview show.
“For example, with Pedro (Acosta), I think we had very high expectations at the beginning of the season. I think it’s been very high since his first season at MotoGP last year.
“Then I might have looked a bit, but there was nothing negative about it, but it was some disappointment and then the expectations weren’t high enough for a second.
“Now, for me, like the stability of this, before summer holidays, I’ve already tried to clean my head, keep everything focused and keep it as simple as possible.”
Ajo added that Acosta is expected to encounter problems in 2025 and that the Spaniards are expected to be effective in his process to resolve them.
“I’ve always said when you build a project, when you build a rider, your career, and everything, how can you grow if you don’t face problems or go deeper,” Ajo said.
“This can be seen in a lot of riders and in a lot of projects, and with Pedro, I think it’s a bit the same.
“Last year was really good. It was a really great start for him. Meanwhile, we, the people who have experience, say, “Hey, where is the problem?”
“I don’t think we can really become stronger without learning from the problem.
“So I think this has been a very quick process from Pedro in the last few months. He did it very well.”