{"id":608989,"date":"2026-04-15T18:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/608989\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T18:19:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:19:09","slug":"pedro-acosta-curious-about-850cc-calendar-stress-means-shorter-motogp-careers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/608989\/","title":{"rendered":"Pedro Acosta \u201ccurious\u201d about 850cc, calendar “stress\u201d means shorter MotoGP careers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pedro Acosta is \u201ccurious\u201d to see how MotoGP\u2019s smaller 2027 machines will perform, while insisting that straight-line speed is not the main safety concern.<\/p>\n

The reduction in engine capacity from 1000 to 850cc is expected to trim top speeds but comes with a corresponding drop in minimum machine weight, from 157kg to 153kg.<\/p>\n

That could result in higher corner speeds, although the impact of reduced aerodynamics, switch to Pirelli tyres, and removal of ride-height devices is still unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what is dangerous at the moment is not that we go 360 km\/h in the straight,\u201d Acosta<\/a> said at COTA, when asked about the upcoming 850cc machines.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is we are much faster in the corners than last year, and than years ago. And that’s what makes the sport dangerous.<\/p>\n

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\u201c…I don’t know how it will be [next season]. Also, with no rear devices next year. I’m curious about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pedro <\/p>\n

Pedro Acosta, 2026 US MotoGP.<\/p>\n

\u00a9\u00a0Gold and Goose<\/p>\n

But Acosta is already clear about the consequences a record calendar and revised weekend format will have on the length of racing careers.<\/p>\n

After reaching 19 rounds just before the Covid-era, MotoGP saw its first 20-round calendar in 2022, rising to 22-rounds in 2025.<\/p>\n

Significantly, half-distance Sprint races were also added to the Saturday of each race weekend from 2023, meaning 44 races per season.<\/p>\n

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While describing fewer rounds as \u201ca good idea\u201d, the Red Bull KTM <\/a>star explained that the intensity of each event is a more significant issue.<\/p>\n

\u201c[What] I feel is bad about the calendar is now the careers of the riders will be shorter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there’s no way to stay 22 weekends with an important session every day – like PR [Friday], Qualifying and the Sprint [Saturday], and then the main race [Sunday].<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no time in the weekend to say \u2018OK, I will go out on track, I will take my pace, step by step, I will just ride\u2019, let’s say. Every day you have an important session, 22 [weekends] per year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will make everything shorter. Because the level of stress that we will support will reach a limit.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think Sprint races are a good idea, I think shorter qualifying and [Friday practice] is a good idea, but if we want to maintain during a long career, you cannot risk every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause when the risk is higher, the percentage of how hurt you can get is higher also. It’s the only thing that I see at the moment. Not [just] the number of races.\u201d<\/p>\n

Acosta, who won his first MotoGP<\/a> Sprint race at the Thai season opener, returned to Europe holding third in the world championship, behind only the factory Aprilias of Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.<\/p>\n

Although yet to be officially confirmed, Acosta is set to partner Marc Marquez at the factory Ducati team in 2027.<\/p>\n

Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pedro Acosta is \u201ccurious\u201d to see how MotoGP\u2019s smaller 2027 machines will perform, while insisting that straight-line speed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,6399,806,805,803,804,10734,10670,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-608989","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-motosport","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-ktm","11":"tag-motor","12":"tag-motor-sports","13":"tag-motosport","14":"tag-motosports","15":"tag-pedro-acosta","16":"tag-red-bull-ktm-factory-racing","17":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}