"It was just a coffee": Alessio Salucci downplays Acosta's flirtation with VR46

(Motorsport-Total.com) - Brno was KTM's best race weekend of the 2025 MotoGP season so far. Pedro Acosta and Enea Bastianini celebrated second and third places in the sprint. In the Grand Prix, Acosta claimed third place, marking the Austrian brand's first podium of the year.

It had been a rocky and difficult road to get there. Acosta, in particular, repeatedly expressed his displeasure publicly. He spoke of his sporting disappointment and put pressure on KTM to take the next steps in its development.

"It was certainly the most difficult start to the season of my World Championship career so far. It's not easy when you set out with a goal and everything goes wrong from morning to night, and you have to start from scratch—with bad races."

"At times, I drove even worse than in my rookie season. It was never easy. Then came the arm surgery and all those things—it wasn't easy. But since we had the surgery, things have been getting better."

"We're getting closer, we're scoring a lot of points. I think I've been the KTM rider with the most points in the last few Grands Prix and I've been racing well. I've only ever finished fourth or fifth, but overall they've been good races."

The two podium finishes in Brno were ultimately a liberating experience for the 21-year-old: "I mean, I needed something like that for a while. In my worst year in the World Championship, I won three races, and last year I took five podium finishes."

"This year, we hadn't achieved anything at all. I was often close, but then something always happened. I was close, but the others were faster. Then I was close again—so many races like that, it was hard to process."

Salucci: "You can't ignore someone like Pedro"

That's why rumors persisted in early summer that Acosta was considering leaving KTM. After Mugello, he visited the Ducati Museum in Borgo Panigale "to look at Casey Stoner's bike." Acosta said nothing more about this visit.

He has also been linked with VR46 for weeks. Franco Morbidelli's contract expires at the end of the season. Acosta's contract with KTM runs until the end of 2026. The VR46 website also confirms that there have been discussions.

"I admit that we spoke to Acosta at some point, we listened," team principal Alessio "Ucci" Salucci recently told Sky Italy in Brno. "There were a lot of rumors in the paddock, and we talked, because you can't ignore someone like Pedro."

"But it's a long way from a conversation to an actual move to us. We'll begin discussions with Morbidelli's management about his future with us next year. We'll sit down together and provide an update soon."

"We like Franco, and we're trying to find a solution. With Acosta, it was more of a small chat, a coffee," the Italian says with a grin. So, things aren't supposed to be anything more concrete between the two sides at the moment.

Salucci also commented on the possibility of Acosta staying with KTM for another year and then perhaps moving to VR46: "That's difficult. All contracts expire at the end of 2026, so it seems rather unlikely to me that Acosta will join our team."

"But you should never say never—if an opportunity arises, we'll definitely talk about it next year. Let's see. But all the contracts are expiring: Yamaha, Honda, the Ducati factory team come to mind."

"And at that point, someone like Pedro will go there—to a factory team, as it should be," believes the VR46 team boss. KTM is also working on the new 850cc prototype for 2027. The course should be set for KTM to remain in MotoGP.

Pit Beirer has "no problem" with flirting with strangers

The fact that there was a flirtation, or as Salucci puts it, a coffee, between Acosta and VR46 naturally didn't go unnoticed by KTM. However, Motorsport Director Pit Beirer is taking the matter in stride.

"I know he's still a kid, and he wants the best bike to perform," Beirer recently told MotoGP.com at the Sachsenring. "As long as our bike isn't the best on the grid, we have to live with criticism and flirtations like this."

"Maybe you have to reach a certain age to understand that you should treat the woman you have well—and not constantly flirt with other women. But for us, that's really not a problem."

Acosta's public criticism of KTM has also recently softened. At the Sachsenring, he admitted: "It's true that they often told me I was too negative. Now I'm trying to be more optimistic."

The successful weekend in the Czech Republic brought relief and great joy to the KTM team. After the summer break, the important home race in Spielberg is on the calendar in mid-August. With the powerful KTM engine, a lot should be possible again on the high-performance track.