Pedro Acosta claims maiden MotoGP at Red Bull Ring

Claiming his maiden MotoGP victory at the Austrian Grand Prix, Pedro Acosta ended a near three-year wait for his first MotoGP win. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing produced a composed ride at the Red Bull Ring to beat championship leader Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) by 0.192 seconds, while Marco Bezzecchi completed the podium in third.

The victory came just a day after Acosta crashed out of the Tissot Sprint at Turn 2b, the same corner where he launched his winning move during Sunday’s 28-lap race. Martin’s runner-up finish extends his championship lead over Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) to 12 points, after Marquez could only manage fifth.

The result also gives KTM a home victory at the Red Bull Ring, with Acosta set to leave the factory team at the end of the 2026 season. Martin and Bezzecchi made a strong start, leading Ai Ogura (Trackhouse MotoGP Team) through the opening laps, while Acosta moved into fourth after passing Marquez.

Acosta quickly worked his way forward, passing Ogura on Lap 2 before overtaking Bezzecchi at Turn 2b on Lap 4 to take second. The KTM rider then took the lead from Martin on Lap 9, outdragging the Aprilia down into Turn 2a.

From there, Acosta gradually built a gap at the front, although Martin and Bezzecchi kept the pressure on during the second half of the race. The lead was cut to 0.7 seconds on Lap 21, but Acosta responded with a 1:30.693 lap before rebuilding his advantage to more than a second.

He maintained his composure over the closing laps to take the chequered flag 1.2 seconds clear of Martin, with Bezzecchi finishing just 0.192 seconds behind his teammate. Ogura finished fourth, 0.9 seconds off the podium, while Marquez recovered to fifth after dropping as low as seventh following several mistakes at Turn 1.

Brad Binder backed up KTM’s home victory with sixth, his best result of the season, followed by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in seventh. Fermin Aldeguer (Gresini Racing MotoGP) was classified eighth after a three-second post-race penalty for causing contact, ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and Johann Zarco (Castrol Honda LCR).

Enea Bastianini, Raul Fernandez, Takaaki Nakagami, Luca Marini and Diogo Moreira completed the points scorers. With Martin now 12 points clear of Marquez and Bezzecchi a further 42 points adrift, the championship heads to Japan next from October 2 to 4 at Motegi.

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