The video calls that led to Pedro Acosta's historic MotoGP title lead

Pedro Acosta has revealed the motivation and guidance he received from his crew chief over the winter before taking the MotoGP points lead at the opening round in Thailand.

KTM came into the 2026 MotoGP season having not won a race of any kind, over Sprint or grand prix distance, since the 2023 Jerez Sprint when Brad Binder won. Acosta, meanwhile, was winless in both MotoGP formats since moving up to the premier class in 2024.

That changed on Saturday when Acosta took victory after a controversial penalty for Marc Marquez on the final lap after contact with the KTM rider at the final corner of the penultimate lap; and Acosta backed up the win with a second place in the Thai Grand Prix on Sunday. It's a result good enough to ensure he keeps the points lead after round one, and Acosta is the first KTM rider to lead the MotoGP riders' standings in the Austrian factory's premier class history.

Afterwards, he spoke of how his crew chief, Paul Trevathan, repeatedly spoke to him over the winter to urge the 21-year-old Murcian to maintain a realistic outlook on 2026, after ambitious expectations led to underperformance in the first half of 2025.

“At the end, we worked super-fine all winter,” Pedro Acosta told MotoGP.com’s After the Flag post-race show.

“He [Paul Trevathan] was pushing me a lot in video calls the whole winter to keep calm and to don’t think so much because maybe the expectation last year was quite high and was not helping. 

“Also, things that are happening in life are making you more conscious of how life is going. 

“I wanted to start the year in the same way that I finished the last one, trying to fight for this top-five. 

“Even today, after the Warm Up that was not great, we said ‘Okay, boys, maybe it’s not the race that we dreamed [of], but we have to finish in this top-five that is our target’. 

“We are making good races, not a lot of mistakes compared to last year. For this, it’s time to keep in this line.”

Acosta added that he is pleased with the work KTM is doing to improve the KTM, although he recognises there will be tougher races coming down the line in 2026.

“I remember last year here we were suffering to even be inside the top-10,” Acosta said.

“KTM is making a really nice job. It’s true that they are 100 per cent pushing to give me [slight improvements] during the whole winter to try to survive a bit more in the races. 

“It looks like we found something. 

“It’s true that there’s still a long way to go, not every GP will be that nice like that one, but we are working quite okay in the box. 

“For this, we have to keep calm and to keep in this way.”