Author Archives: PressBox

Pol Espargaro said the Red Bull Ring may be Pedro Acosta’s best chance to win his first MotoGP race before he leaves KTM, calling the 21-year-old “equal to the best” and saying he is “riding insane.” Acosta has seven or eight grands prix left with KTM, depending on Qatar, before joining Marc Marquez at Ducati in 2027. He has eight runner-up finishes, the most of any MotoGP rider without a premier-class victory, and he won the Buriram Sprint to open the season. Espargaro also said Motegi could be another strong chance if Acosta does not win in Austria, and KTM’s last Sunday MotoGP victory at the Red Bull Ring came with Miguel Oliveira in 2022.

Espargaro said Acosta’s KTM performances may be “better” than the Marc Marquez he saw at Honda, adding that the Spaniard’s riding was like “what Marc did at Honda, or even better.” Acosta finished third at Misano for his fifth podium of the season, while another source said he has taken eight podiums in his final KTM season. He has 209 points, more than Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder, Maverick Vinales and substitute Espargaro combined, and Espargaro said his results show a rider pushing a limited bike with rare technique and an “infinite hunger for victory.”

KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer said Acosta’s braking and turning help offset the RC16’s weakest area, the critical moment of corner entry when riders release the brake and turn the bike. Beirer said the team sometimes wonders how Acosta does it and said he is valuable because he can turn the bike while staying strong on the brakes. Acosta briefly led the 2026 championship after his Buriram Sprint win, but Aprilia and Ducati have since become the dominant teams and KTM has slipped to third in the constructors’ standings amid engine reliability problems. Acosta is fifth in the world championship.

Pecco Bagnaia pushed back after a private off-air conversation after the San Marino Grand Prix was aired by DAZN, calling the episode a “disaster” and a “lack of respect” and saying his remarks had been taken out of context. He said the clip, which appeared to show him complaining about Ducati and saying the team would not let him make certain setup changes, came from a badly phrased exchange with VR46 rider Fabio di Giannantonio and that he regretted the wording he used. Bagnaia described DAZN’s decision to publish the exchange without the full context as “totally disrespectful” and said the controversy came from frustration, not a desire to create drama.

Ai Ogura was cleared to return to MotoGP at the Austrian Grand Prix after passing a mandatory medical check on Thursday, putting him in line to ride Free Practice 1 at the Red Bull Ring. He was due to be checked again after Friday morning’s session before doctors decided whether he could continue for the rest of the weekend.

Ogura missed the previous two races, at Aragon and Misano, after fracturing his left hand near the thumb in a motocross training crash in Japan. The injury required surgery in Barcelona, and doctors had already delayed his comeback after further checks. Ogura said his hand was “quite okay” and Austria was his preferred target because Misano came too soon. The Trackhouse rider said he wanted a normal weekend rather than immediate podium contention and would use Austria as preparation for his home race at Motegi, where he hoped to be closer to full fitness. He had been third in the championship before the injury but dropped to sixth after missing races and Marc Márquez’s strong results, leaving him 71 points behind the leader. He is due to join the factory Yamaha team next season.

Nicolò Bulega escaped major injury after a violent highside during Ducati’s 850cc MotoGP test at Mugello on Wednesday, and he said he was fine apart from “a bump” after the crash. He also thanked fans for their messages after the incident, which happened around midday at the Arrabbiata 2 corner.

He was taken to a nearby hospital for checks, where doctors found no fractures, and he was discharged after the examination. Bulega was set to travel to the Red Bull Ring on Saturday evening and was expected to be back on track Monday for a Ducati 850 test day, where he was due to work alongside Marc Márquez and Fermín Aldeguer in the first session bringing the three riders together on the bike.

Bulega had been expected to take part in next Monday’s post-Austrian Grand Prix Pirelli tire test, but that now appears unlikely with the Cremona WorldSBK round scheduled for next weekend. He is still expected to recover ahead of Cremona and remains 146 points clear of teammate Iker Lecuona with three rounds left, while his full-time MotoGP debut with VR46 is scheduled for 2027.