Acosta secures factory KTM MotoGP seat for 2025

The 20-year-old has secured a promotion to KTM’s top squad after just six rounds into his rookie campaign, where he has already secured two grand prix podiums and fought with champions including Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia.

“It was important to me to keep pushing with KTM, and to see the whole project and the story until now and how we have grown in racing,” said Acosta.

“So, it’s nice to carry on for the future: getting in orange is like coming back home. The way they are pushing and improving in the last couple of years is what is also pushing me to stay for the next couple of years.”

Acosta has been nurtured by KTM since his early days in grand prix racing effectively guaranteed a premier class ride while he was still racing in Moto3 in 2021.

He finally made his much-awaited move to MotoGP this year as the reigning Moto2 champion, joining Augusto Fernandez at the GasGas-branded Tech3 satellite squad, but on a factory RC16 and with KTM-supplied engineers.

So impressive has Acosta been in the early part of the 2024 season that he has been the top-scoring rider on the KTM. His results in the opening six rounds have put him a solid sixth in the championship, two places ahead of factory KTM rider Brad Binder, who has a long-term contract with KTM that runs until the end of the 2026 season.

Acosta was widely expected to secure a seat at the factory KTM squad in 2025, but the Austrian marque took the surprise decision to announce his move even before the summer break.

He will take the place currently occupied by Miller, who is currently in his second season with KTM after joining from Ducati.

Jack Miller, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

KTM had already warned that Miller and Fernandez have not been performing as per the marque's expectations, with the two riders currently sitting 15th and 17th in the standings and having scored only 40 points between them compared to Acosta’s tally of 83.

The announcement, however, doesn’t necessarily signal the end of the road for Miller at KTM, with the Australian believed to be evaluated for a move in the opposite direction to GasGas.

Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director said: “It gives us great pleasure to announce this news.

“We are as excited as everyone else when Pedro shows his speed and personality on the track, and it looks like this boy is winning a lot of new fans all around the globe.

“From the first days in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup we could see he was a special rider. Somebody that does things differently, and with the strongest mentality to make his own way.

“It makes him unique in this MotoGP world. It gives us a lot of energy and power to make this journey with him through our teams and our motorcycles.

“I also want to give a mention to our KTM GP Academy and the work of people like Aki Ajo with Pedro. It is super-cool that we will be together for a few more years.

“He has a very big future in MotoGP and we really look forward to the next chapter of his career with us.”