Acosta sees Portuguese GP sprint defeat as step towards MotoGP win breakthrough

Pedro Acosta says narrow defeats like the Portimao sprint on Saturday are only making him a better rider as he edges closer to an elusive first MotoGP win.

The highly-rated Spaniard, who is approaching the end of his second season in MotoGP, qualified on the front row for the first time in 2025 in Portugal. But despite trying every trick in the book to keep the faster Alex Marquez behind him during the race, he had to settle for second place.

Coming home just a tenth behind the victor was the latest in a series of runner-up spots in the second half of the season. Acosta was also second in the sprint in the Czech Republic before the summer break. Since the recess he has shown increasing form and maturity, with second places in the grands prix in Hungary, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Sunday in Portugal will represent another realistic chance to go one better, particularly given how Acosta’s tyre management skills have improved of late. And, he says, the experience picked up in the Portimao sprint will make him stronger.

“Nobody has done a lot of laps with the rear tyre for [the long race],” he said. “It will be a question mark for everyone, but minimum today was that for the first time I was really, really close to this win.

“This means that we are working well. I’m not making a lot of mistakes. [This is only making me better]. We keep going.”

Acosta tries to hold on in front of Alex Marquez in the sprint

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / LAT Images / via Getty Images

Although his late braking and defensive lines were ultimately not enough to keep Alex Marquez behind him until the end of the sprint, Acosta noted that they had not compromised his result – given that the KTM was not the fastest bike.

“[Against] the two main manufacturers at the moment, that is Aprilia and Ducati, we just try to fight with the tools that we have. That is the braking points; trying to somehow block the others.

“The good thing is that it looks like I was not losing performance on the brakes or this aggressiveness that I can have during the races. I think, like I said, these hard moments are making me a better guy.”