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Pedro Acosta has noticed a shift in his KTM teammate Brad Binder’s approach to the new season, saying he looks much more confident after what was a difficult 2025 campaign.
Since joining the grid in 2020, Binder had always been the leader of the factory KTM setup. That began to change last year when Acosta moved over from Tech3. While Acosta finished fifth overall with 307 points and five podiums, Binder was back in 11th without a single top-three finish.
Acosta also mentioned that he believes part of that improvement is down to changes in their dynamic within the team, which now sees him take on a bigger leadership role.
“I think it helps that Brad doesn’t have the responsibility now for development,” said Acosta. “Before he had it all. If we see from my side, before I arrived it was only Brad. Not just about set-up, about everything.”
Acosta believes Binder has got his confidence back
Binder, after testing, said he feels a lot better on the 2026 KTM and hopes that comfort will translate to race pace. At Buriram, his fastest lap was 0.371 seconds slower than Acosta’s, and his average race pace was 1.074 seconds off.
Acosta paid close attention to Binder’s work on the KTM RC16 during pre-season testing. He noted changes in Binder’s attitude around the garage but said that comparing their data directly was tough because they were working with different setups.
“I’ve looked at his data, but we tried very different things during testing. So it’s difficult to draw a comparison regarding tyre management,” Acosta added.
Acosta says KTM tyres no longer fall apart after just three laps
Acosta finished the Buriram test race simulations with an average lap time of 1:30.516, ranking sixth overall. Binder’s average of 1:31.590 was only the 17th fastest and even trailed Acosta’s second-best effort.
The test also gave Acosta confidence that KTM has addressed its tyre issues, despite the challenge of comparing data with Binder due to their different setups. Acosta said he used to burn through tyres in just three laps last year but now feels he can maintain a good pace for 15.
“The turn-in is better, the bike is a bit more stable, and the tyres aren’t under as much stress,” Acosta explained. “Before, the tyres were destroyed after just three laps. Now, we can ride 15 laps at a good pace.”
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