On the face of it, Round 1 of 2026 delivered much of what we expected. A dominant Marco Bezzecchi victory was in the offing from Friday morning. Aprilia continued on from where they finished last season. And Marc Marquez made it look as though he’d done anything other than recover from yet another serious shoulder injury during a prolonged, painful winter.
But there were a few surprises in there – none more than the performance of Pedro Acosta. Next to no one was expecting him, at 21, to become the youngest rider to win a MotoGP Sprint. Much less to emerge from Thailand as the first KTM rider to head the premier class standings since its debut in 2017.
This might seem odd for someone that’s been hailed as the sport’s next big thing since his Moto3 debut five years ago. Having won two world championships by the age of 19 and ticked a MotoGP podium off in just his second race, it’s not exactly as though the Spaniard is a bolt from the blue.
