New twist in KTM line-up saga as Pedro Acosta plunges his future into doubt

KTM have still solved their issue of having five riders contracted for 2024, but only four MotoGP bikes after their request for a fifth was rejected.

Moto2 teenage starlet Acosta had been promised a promotion to the premier class - putting KTM’s four riders at risk of losing their seat - but has now confessed he might the victim of limited space.

“Let’s see where I will ride. Now, it’s up in the air. We don’t have news,” Acosta said in Japan this weekend.

“Maybe I will stay one more year in Moto2. We don’t know.”

Asked if Moto2 was sudden a real possibility, he replied: “There were always two directions but I don’t want to accept… I don’t really like the idea of staying one more year in Moto2. 

“Because I want to jump to MotoGP, I think it is the correct step.

“We cannot be afraid of anything. We have to be realistic. If we can’t, then we can’t.

“I have to wait.”

Acosta was asked if he still prefers to move to MotoGP, and he answered: “I hope, I hope. At the moment, I don’t know anything.”

Complicating the matter is the fact that his Moto2 team, Red Bull KTM Ajo, have anticipated his exit by announcing a new 2024 line-up of Celestino Vietti and Deniz Oncu.

“I know, I know, I have nothing to say,” Acosta shrugged.

Acosta said about a deadline for KTM’s decision: “No, no, maybe in Valencia! We don’t know. For sure, before the end of the season but we have to wait.”

KTM factory duo Jack Miller and Brad Binder, plus Tech3 GASGAS pair Pol Espargaro and Augusto Fernandez, are all contracted for 2024.

Fernandez even had his contract extended, seemingly ending the obvious likelihood that he would be axed in favour of Acosta.

A ‘substitute’ idea was floated by Dorna, suggesting that in return for extra wildcard entries KTM could use one of their five riders in a reserve role.

Acosta’s admission that he could remain in Moto2 is the newest possible solution but is a significant U-turn on the manufacturer’s initial plans.