Espargaro: It’s "painful" Acosta isn't winning because of KTM's limitations

Pol Espargaro says it is “painful” to watch Pedro Acosta unable to showcase his full potential due to the limitations of KTM’s MotoGP bike. 

As the 2025 season has progressed, Acosta has grown increasingly consistent, having admitted to making too many mistakes early in the year. While his speed had never been in doubt, the newfound maturity and consistency have transformed him into a more complete rider.

In last weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, the Spaniard battled with the factory Ducati of Francesco Bagnaia to finish second, securing his fourth Sunday podium of the season. 

Currently fifth in the championship, he has amassed nearly twice as many points as team-mate Brad Binder, the next highest-placed KTM rider in the standings.

However, as he approaches the end of his sophomore campaign, a victory continues to elude him in MotoGP - a fact often cited by his critics despite his impressive form.

KTM test rider Espargaro, who has closely followed Acosta’s development, believes the 21-year-old would be winning races if he had a faster bike underneath him.

“It's painful to see. It's nice to see he's consistent, but it's painful to see that he's consistently out of the podium [positions]. He's much faster than this,” Espargaro said at Sepang.

“If on another bike, he would be winning races, but we cannot deliver this performance on our bike yet. 

“He's riding very well. [In qualifying], he did a 1m57.3s [lap] trying to get a better result. It makes him crash. My ideal lap time would be 1m57.6s, and I'm fast on one lap here [in Sepang]. So he took three or four tenths [of me]. 

“He's very quick and it's painful to see him not being on the podium every race with his speed.

“But we will try to make the bike faster, at least for the next year, to see him shining more often.”

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Asif Zubairi / Motorsport Network

The Asia-Pacific leg of the campaign has seen two first-time winners emerge, with Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer winning the Indonesian Grand Prix at the beginning of this month and Trackhouse rider Raul Fernandez triumphing next time out in Australia.

While Fernandez is now in his fourth season in MotoGP, Aldeguer is still a premier class rookie. Both, however, are riding bikes that are more competitive than KTM’s RC16.

When asked if it was tough to watch his fellow Spaniards score their first wins, Acosta said: “It is what it is. In the end, I also want to be [a first-time winner]. 

“I'm riding in my best moment right now. You see that I'm not making stupid mistakes and I'm not losing focus in important moments. I'm always in the top five. Now I'm finding this consistency.

“But in the box, we know what is missing. We need something that gives us a bit more performance. 

“We know that Ducati is still at the top. We know that Aprilia is now the second manufacturer in the championship, and we know that Honda is pushing a lot to come back. 

“Now, the [KTM] factory has to make a push. We are not missing that much, but the problem is that we miss a lot in important moments [areas]. 

“Now is my moment to become a better rider. It's my moment to be more precise in everything. I need to be fast. 

“I'm getting more experience, because I'm trying many more things, and I'm trying everything that I have on the table. I'm trying to pick the best moments to use it for this. I'm becoming a better guy.”