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The worst-kept secret in the MotoGP paddock has finally been made official at this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, with Austrian manufacturer KTM confirming that rookie superstar Pedro Acosta will step up to their factory team for next year.
Acosta's arrival on a "multi-year" deal effectively comes as confirmation that incumbent Jack Miller will not continue in the team.
It’s been open speculation for quite some time that Acosta, who has scored two grand prix podiums in his first seven rounds as a premier-class racer, would get the nod to (in theory) join the already-contracted Brad Binder in the Red Bull-sponsored factory team for 2025, and comes as even less of a surprise given Miller’s mediocre results of late.
It means that Acosta will now officially reunite with the factory after spending his rookie season at their satellite squad Tech3, which KTM machinery branded under sister factory Gas Gas’ name instead.
“It gives us great pleasure to announce this news,” said KTM’s motorsports director Pit Beirer.
“We are as excited as everyone else when Pedro shows his speed and personality on the track, and it looks like this boy is winning a lot of new fans all around the globe. From the first days in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup we could see he was a special rider. Somebody that does things differently, and with the strongest mentality to make his own way.
“It makes him unique in this MotoGP world. It gives us a lot of energy and power to make this journey with him through our teams and our motorcycles. I also want to give a mention to our KTM GP Academy and the work of people like Aki Ajo with Pedro.
“It is super-cool that we will be together for a few more years. He has a very big future in MotoGP and we really look forward to the next chapter of his career with us.”
Team manager Francesco Guidotti said "we can almost call him [Acosta] a generational talent" and paid tribute to the level of performance the Herve Poncharal-founded Tech3 team has already allowed the rookie to access.
The news won’t have a substantial impact on MotoGP’s ongoing silly season discussions, given that it’s been long-expected that Acosta would replace Miller, with the Australian already auditioning himself this weekend for a chance to do a straight swap with the Spaniard and head to Tech3.
As for Acosta (pictured above with Beirer to his left and KTM chief Hubert Trunkenpolz to his right), his quote as part of KTM's press release suggests the deal is for an initial two years. "It’s nice to carry on for the future: getting in orange is like coming back home," he said. "The way they [KTM] are pushing and improving in the last couple of years is what is also pushing me to stay for the next couple of years."
However, that far from excludes the possibility of there being built-in options to extend the partnership into the next MotoGP rules cycle starting in 2027, given Acosta's sometime Moto2 rival Fermin Aldeguer is already on that kind of '2+2' contract with Ducati.
In a way, Acosta is the only rider firmly affixed to a place in the KTM's line-up for 2025, as Beirer has previously refused to rule out the possibility of Binder being shifted to Tech3.
A seismic move like that, though, would only come if KTM was able to make a massive free agent signing - which speculation suggests isn't totally out of the question given the current Marc Marquez/Pramac/Ducati stand-off.
However, Guidotti told British broadcaster TNT at Mugello that "as far as I know" Marquez is unavailable to KTM and set on staying at Gresini if he can't get a works Ducati seat.
"It would be strange for him to change two bikes in two years," Guidotti said.
