MotoGP | Acosta: "You can see Messi 1000 times, but you will never play like him"

World champion of Moto3 in 2021 and Moto2 in 2023, in less than three years, Pedro Acosta has won titles in the training categories before arriving, in an apotheosis of expectations, in the premier class, where the great talents of the moment await him with great curiosity.

Acosta, who is not yet 20 (he turns 20 in May), is one of those who never leaves anyone indifferent. This Monday, after the presentation of the new livery of the GasGas Tech3 team, KTM's satellite team, in which he will share the garage with Augusto Fernandez, when he was asked if it was good or bad for him that the data of all the riders of the brand were open, he left one of those phrases that seem destined to remain in history. “You can watch Leo Messi play a thousand times, but you will never play like Leo Messi,” he said.

The boy from Mazarrón concluded the Valencia tests happily last November, but already then he underlined that he needed to intensify his physical preparation.

“The preparation hasn't changed much from last year,” he said. “In the end I focused on improving the areas where we saw in Valencia that we have a large margin for improvement, although I train on other bikes, so it's not the same and I don't feel as fast. I worked on what we think it is necessary to improve my riding. We have improved shoulders, arms, chest, this was my goal. I would like to gain a little more muscle mass, those two kilos that I am missing, but it is difficult before the start of the season I see riders like Augusto, Jack Miller, Brad Binder, who are much taller, I don't want to say that I see myself in difficulty, but I see myself as smaller, it is a handicap that I would like to compensate with more muscle mass, which I hope to acquire during the 'year,” said the new GasGas driver.

For Acosta, the winter break was long “but at the same time short, the first few days I had to take care of commitments and then fix my body. When it was time to start preparing for the season there was only a month left, so things were go quickly.”

As Acosta prepared for the season, his debut in the premier class was surrounded by an aura of great expectations, and no one rules out that he could challenge for a victory this year.

“The problem is that we talk about results when we've only been on the bike for one day. It's early, there are many expectations, many illusions, so to speak. On the other hand, the only year in which I didn't I set a goal in terms of results and it was actually the worst, the first in Moto2. I don't know what I would be happy about, even if I did well in Qatar it wouldn't be a realistic result, given that we would have just come out of testing on that circuit. I can't talking about goals or results would be unrealistic. I would like to learn how to manage the electronics and make fast and constant steps in a weekend, which is only three days, it would be a good goal.”

Photo by: GasGas Factory Racing

Pedro Acosta, Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing

As has already happened to him in 2022 and now again, Acosta will be in the category with Agusto Fernandez, and always in the same team and with the same number, 37. “It will be a continuous fight, the number is his and these things must be respected, how I wish they would respect mine.”

Pedro was asked to talk about Marc Marquez, as many see him as his possible heir, and how he sees his chances this year with Gresini.

“Everyone knows who Marc Marquez is and what he has done. I think that if he does well it won't be a surprise, he will certainly be in front, we saw him in Valencia, doing fast laps and having pace. And we saw the calmest Marc Marquez of the last seven years, we haven't seen him move the bike or be super aggressive, and he finished fourth or fifth. I think it's a very positive moment.”

This year everyone expects a lot from KTM and its riders, who will compete with the Ducati army made up of eight bikes. Acosta was asked about data sharing and whether this could ultimately cause pilots to lose value.

“I think everything needs to be taught. Above all we, the KTM group and GasGas, are at a point of improvement and sharing can help us speed things up. But you can see a thousand times how Leo Messi plays and you never get to play like Leo Messi. So you can copy, of course, you can copy everything in life, but it's not that easy.”

Acosta will arrive in MotoGP in 2024, precisely the year in which most of the category's riders end their contracts, with the first two or three months of the season representing a hot time to decide the future of the majority of the grid. Motorsport.com asked Pedro if KTM has offered him any reassurances on the matter, or if he himself sees a deadline to prove they are in their place.

“All these issues are managed by my manager (Albert Valera), I know nothing. I prefer to do my own thing, concentrating on my bike, which in the end is the one that speaks for me. I don't know anything about the dates, if the market is will move in two or three months, I'm calm with KTM, I know that if decisions aren't made in two months, they will be made in three, four or we'll have to wait for the end of the season. I'm very calm. I already had clear ideas, but Valencia (at the November tests) life made me understand that this is my place, and where I belong, within the KTM bubble. So it will only be a question of time, how many months it will take, to decide what do”, says the Spaniard, who this year has a contract with KTM to race with GasGas, but who will be released if the Austrian manufacturer does not promote him to the official team in 2025.