RiderTua.com – Of the four races held, 3 of which KTM riders were always on the podium, KTM showed rapid growth at the start of the season. Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta are in excellent form (especially Acosta), could the Austrian manufacturer really be a threat and start to worry Ducati?
Ducati and its riders were the targets to beat, Pecco Bagnaia retained his crown, but not without difficulty, and left Portimao with a crash that caused him to slip down the standings where he lost to Brad Binder, but the championship was still a long way off.
Could KTM Now Make Ducati Worry?
Brad Binder and then Pedro Acosta are two names that represent the present and future of KTM: the South African rider is now an experienced man, he knows the RC16 well and has shown a certain solidity, so much so that KTM tied him to an exclusive contract until the year 2026. Then the new Pedro Acosta arrived in MotoGP like a storm. KTM has secured its future, having shone in its debut, taking the podium in just its second race.
Now Ducati, apart from focusing on reconfirming the world title, must also commit to not destroying the beauty we saw until last year. The fight between Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin does not seem to have affected the spirit of the Borgo Panigale team, which now has a new rooster in the blue cage (Marc Marquez). Will Marc break the balance? Will the Portimao incident between the eight-time world champion and the defending champion damage relations? Meanwhile, Martin has raced ahead with a surplus of +23 points over his rival last year, but the KTM with Binder will make things difficult for the opponents by being at -18 points.
Acosta said he overtook Bagnaia before he fell, which put him on the podium. With these numbers, KTM boasts two podiums in Qatar (two second places with Brad Binder) and one in Portugal (in Sunday’s race with Acosta). Only in the Portimao Sprint did he miss out on the top 3 positions, but Miller gained fifth, thus confirming the solidity of the KTM project and the consistency of results. Does all this make one think that KTM could really give Ducati something to worry about? and become a real threat? Only time will tell, it is too early to draw conclusions on the second race, but the first assessments of the Austrian brand are more than positive especially with Bocil Alien (Acosta).
