Pedro Acosta: 2027 MotoGP contract decision “will be a lottery”

KTM’s Pedro Acosta believes deciding on where to race for the 2027 MotoGP season “will be a lottery”, due to the massive regulation changes coming for that season.

All factory team contracts will be up for renewal at the end of the 2026 season, teeing up one of the most volatile rider markets in years for 2027.

Complicating this is the fact that 2027 will see major changes to the regulations, with 850cc bikes replacing the current 1000cc formula and Pirelli taking over as sole tyre supplier.

Pedro Acosta is expected to be one of several high-profile names who will be central to how the 2027 grid shapes up, having already been linked with moves to VR46 Ducati and Honda for next year earlier this season.

The 21-year-old couldn’t hide his displeasure at KTM’s lack of progress in the first half of the campaign, though it has made steps since the summer break to be a regular podium contender.

“I see that being angry and not being satisfied, and being, I would say, angry with myself because the results were not coming, was not my way to go, and everything was even worse,” he told the official MotoGP website.

“And everything was quite difficult to live with every day. Now, I’m quite calm. I know I’m giving my 100%.

“I know that I’m taking 100% out of the package that we have. For this, if it’s not in my hands, I cannot get angry at all.

“At the end, KTM knows exactly that they have to work. They know we have to make a step if we want to fight for something, or at least to be constantly on the podium.

“You cannot achieve everything from day to night. I will try to keep myself calm, and if it has to arrive, then it will arrive. When you are competitive, everything is open.”

With the 2027 rider market set to move very early next year, the upcoming tests this winter and the opening rounds of next year will be pivotal moments for some riders in deciding their futures.

“I think it will be a lottery, if I am honest,” Acosta added.

“It’s true that I’m quite pumped to see Europe again, because for KTM, I think really good tracks are coming.

“They could be in the same way as Hungary, Portugal and Valencia, where normally KTM was always good there.

“And also, I was feeling quite ok last season in Portugal.

“I think we arrive even better. For sure, the one who makes a bet for ’27 will be a 50/50: 50% of the possibility to win and the other to lose.

“I think I have a good team around to manage these things. I don’t have to really care about it.”