KTM team manager Aki Ajo believes Pedro Acosta’s comments that he “shouldn’t be leading” the 2026 MotoGP championship standings were taken “out of context”.

After winning the sprint and finishing second in the main race at the Thai Grand Prix, Pedro Acosta leads the MotoGP points for the first time in his career.

It represents a major turnaround for KTM, who struggled at in the first half of the 2025 campaign and couldn’t end its victory drought despite becoming a consistent podium finisher in the second part of the season.

Speaking on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, Acosta raised eyebrows when he declared that he and KTM shouldn’t be leading the standings right now.

Asked to clarify what he meant, Aki Ajo told the MotoGP world feed on Friday: “I think it was a little bit out of context, this comment.

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“I think it was more that this was not the plan. The plan was to start, especially in his case, with a different mindset and don’t have the target maybe too high: start with realistic targets and focus on the realistic mindset for the constant work.

“I think that’s more what he wanted to say. And, of course, if you are leading and you are not targeting leading, we need to take this positively.

“But, in any case, I need to repeat: it’s just the second round, and I think now, here, in special conditions, new track, everything, I think in Jerez we will understand much more how the situation is between the riders and the manufacturers.”

Thailand results ‘unexpected’ for KTM

Ajo admits KTM’s Thailand results were unexpected, but feels the form it showed was a genuine signifier of the progress the brand has made with its RC16 over the winter.

“Maybe we didn’t expect exactly such a good result in Thailand, and of course, it’s the result of many things together,” he added.

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“But on the other hand, we see we improved in some areas which were the key points during last year to focus on: turning of the bike, also for the tyre life.

“And Thailand, especially for the tyre life, is a really good test for that, especially for tyre cooling where we made a step.

“But there are always consequences.

“If you improve in something like this, we made a lot of changes to the aero for example, then it affects the top speed.

“Everything is a compromise, so now we need to understand how to improve two areas or things where news things are affecting.”

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