Circuit Of The Americas 63
There were a few surprises at the first MotoGP™ round of 2026. None more than the performance of Pedro Acosta. At one of KTM’ s bogey tracks, the Spaniard became the youngest rider in history to win a MotoGP™ Sprint and walked away from the round with the championship lead.
It all followed a low key preseason, when Acosta flew slightly under the radar. Rarely setting headline grabbing times, the 21 year old instead ensured last year’ s weaknesses, rear grip and managing tyre life, were improved. That spectacularly paid off in Thailand, where Acosta went toe to toe with reigning World Champion Marc Marquez in the MotoGP™ Sprint. His second place in Sunday’ s race was another measured, mature ride.
“ Super nice to start the season in that way,” Acosta said.“ I remember last year we were suffering to be inside the top ten. KTM is making a really nice job. They are 100 percent pushing to give me slight improvements during the winter to survive in the races. It looks like we found something. Not every GP will be that nice like this one, but we are working quite okay in the box. We have to keep calm and keep in this way.”
IT LOOKS LIKE WE IMPROVED THE LIFE OF THE TYRE AND WE ARE MANAGING EVERYTHING BETTER.
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