Acosta's Struggles
"Painful To See"
K
TM is feeling the strain under Pedro
Acosta's winless run in MotoGP, with
test rider Pol Espargaro admitting it's been
"painful to see."
Despite the 21-year-old's recent heroics,
which yielded podium finishes in Indonesia
and Malaysia, he is one of just four full-
time riders on the MotoGP grid that is yet
to win a premier class race.
"It's painful to see," said Espargaro of
his compatriot in Malaysia. "It's nice to see
that he's consistent, but it's painful he's
consistently out of the podium. He is much
faster than this. If he was on another bike,
he would be winning races, but we cannot
deliver this performance on our bike yet.
"He's riding very well, trying to make a
better result; it makes him crash, but [he's]
insanely fast. But we will try to make the
bike faster, at least for the next year, to see
him shining more often."
Neil Morrison
Bulega to Fill in
for Marquez
A
fter testing Ducati's
MotoGP Desmosedici
machine at Jerez, it has
been confirmed that
Nicolo Bulega will stand
in for the injured Marc
Marquez at the final two
races of the season.
This year's WorldSBK
runner-up had a fruitful
outing at the Circuito de
Jerez-Angel Nieto, where
he had just a few hours of
running (and a rumored
35 laps) on a drying track.
It's believed he didn't get
close to his WorldSBK lap
record, which he posted
less than two weeks prior.
"Making the MotoGP
debut is the dream of any
kid who aspires to be
-
come a rider," Bulega said.
"Plus, being able to ride
the World Champion bike
for the final two races of
2025 makes everything
even more exciting."
The Italian, who won
14 races in this year's
WorldSBK Championship,
is under no illusions about
the task ahead. "It'll be
a big gamble," he said. "I
have no expectations. I'll
take this experience calm
-
ly, especially because, so
far, I've only been able to
test the Desmosedici GP
at Jerez. That said, I'm
certainly motivated to do
well and give my all."
It is also in Ducati's
plans to have Bulega test
and develop its 850cc
MotoGP machine through
2026 before its debut in
2027.
It will be the Italian's
first Grand Prix appear
-
ance since he bowed out
of Moto2 in underwhelm-
ing fashion with a 24th
place at the 2021 Valen-
cia GP.
Neil Morrison
To ride the factory Ducati
is a dream for any rider, but
Nicolo Bulega knows he's
got a mountain to climb.
Pedro Acosta's speed
is there, but the result
everyone wants has
yet to come. The
upcoming race in
Portugal might be a
different story.
VOLUME ISSUE NOVEMBER , P33
