The Moto3 and Moto2 champion is the only rider in orange this season who can harbor serious World Championship ambitions. His gap to leader Jorge Martin is already 60 points.
Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini are well behind in the midfield, while Maverick Vinales is at the very bottom of the standings after injury problems. All three have yet to secure a single top-5 finish in a race.
Acosta, on the other hand, participated in three Sunday podium ceremonies this year and also won the first sprint of the season in Thailand. "La Bestia" at least managed to make an impression with a 3rd place in the Austin sprint.
10 Years of MotoGP
This situation makes no one happy.
KTM entered MotoGP in 2017 with the goal of one day becoming world champions. The best rider final standings were achieved by Binder (2024) and Acosta (2025) with fourth places each.
Next year, the Upper Austrians will celebrate their tenth anniversary in the premier class. For this, a restart - once again - is looming on the rider side.
Two Ducati Riders Are Coming
The factory team will be formed by Fabio Di Giannantonio and Alex Marquez from 2027. For the current Ducati riders, the dream of a factory bike thus comes true, while Brad Binder, on the other hand, loses his place after six years.
Di Giannantonio is currently having his strongest MotoGP season with the VR46 team, having clinched his second premier class victory in Barcelona in mid-May. In the World Championship, the Italian is 16 points behind Martin in third place.
Alex Marquez started the 2026 season as vice-world champion. After his triumph in Jerez and the sprint victory in Barcelona, Marc Marquez's younger brother suffered a heavy crash in the subsequent race in Catalonia.
After a broken collarbone and a marginal fracture of a vertebra in his neck, the Gresini rider returned to the track in Assen and promptly rode to 5th place.
Bastianini Departs
The lineup at the Tech3 satellite team represents the biggest question mark in the transfer market.
Only one thing is certain: Enea Bastianini is seeking new pastures after two years in orange. The Italian will join Trackhouse Racing and will ride an Aprilia in 2027.
For Maverick Vinales, too, the signs point to a departure. At the start of the season, a promotion to the factory team was still on the cards for the Spaniard.
Is Vinales Sidelining Himself?
However, since his severe shoulder injury at the Sachsenring a year ago, he has been trailing his old form. Even a new operation brought no improvement.
Most recently, "Top Gun" also shot himself in the foot. In Assen, Vinales launched an all-out attack, stating that KTM should have let him go when it became clear that there was no place for him in the factory team.
"Wenn ich am Ende nicht mehr in der Weltmeisterschaft bin, dann wird eine Partei daran schuld sein: Das ist KTM."
Vinales leveled serious accusations: "If I'm no longer in the World Championship at the end, then one party will be to blame: That is KTM and no one else."
His words were not particularly clever, confirmed Team Principal Günther Steiner. They would "certainly not help" Vinales in his current position.
Veterans...
This could mean two new spots at Tech3 as well. Binder could inherit one, should Team Principal Günther Steiner opt for the South African's experience.
Luca Marini is another option who would bring a lot of experience to MotoGP. The Italian no longer has a place in Honda's factory team but had recently flirted with a test rider role at HRC.
...or Rookies
One of the KTM RC16s is certainly destined for a rookie. The most promising candidates are the dominant Moto2 World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) and Senna Agius (AUS). Both ride for Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP.
Gonzalez has already won four races in 2026, never finished worse than fifth, and leads the World Championship by 57.5 points ahead of compatriot Izan Guevara. Agius has won twice and is in third place in the World Championship standings.
The 21-year-old Australian is considered to have the better chances. However, it is not ruled out that both could move up to MotoGP together.
The final word has certainly not been spoken yet.
