Has KTM just revealed its last MotoGP bike for Pedro Acosta?

KTM has become the latest manufacturer to launch its 2026 MotoGP season, with both teams of the Mattighofen brand revealing their liveries in an online event.

KTM goes into the 2026 MotoGP season after a tough 2025 campaign that had flashes of positivity but was once again winless for KTM.

The Austrian factory remains without a victory in MotoGP since the 2022 Thai Grand Prix, and without a dry weather win since the 2021 Catalan Grand Prix – both of those taken by Miguel Oliveira.

2025 was a season of high expectations for KTM and especially for Pedro Acosta, the Spanish rider stepping into the factory team for the first time last year after a standout rookie season that saw him on the podium five times.

However, Acosta’s season started poorly last year, and it took him until the Czech round before the summer break to get on the podium for the first time. A strong second half of the year saw him climb up to fourth in the riders’ standings but the two-time world champion remains winless in the premier class heading into his third year; if KTM cannot prove its credentials to provide him with a winning bike in the early races of 2026 it’s likely it will lose the Murcian to a rival factory.

Brad Binder remains alongside Acosta at KTM this year and, after a podium-less season in 2025, gets a new crew chief in the shape of Phil Marron.

Tech3

While Acosta was struggling last season it was Maverick Vinales who drove the KTM project forward, but an injury at Sachsenring meant he was unable to continue his strong season in the second half of the year. Now with Jorge Lorenzo on his programme, Vinales will be looking to position himself as the rider to lead KTM should Acosta depart in 2027.

Enea Bastianini completes an unchanged line-up at KTM and takes on Binder’s former crew chief Andres Madrid for this year. The Italian was on the podium only once last year, in Catalunya, and his season was largely characterised by an uncompetitiveness that must be addressed in year two if he is to earn himself a decent ride for 2027, be that within the KTM structure or elsewhere.