KTM supports Acosta after his poor start in Moto2

Pedro Acosta swept Moto3 in his first year in the Motorcycle World Championship. His was truly insane. And that made many think that this season in Moto2 he would do the same. Because the man from Mazarrón is a rider called to mark an era in this sport and because many also believed that the fact of inheriting the motorcycle of Raúl Fernández from Madrid would be enough for Acosta to rule in the intermediate category from the first moment.

Raúl Fernández, who was a ‘rookie’ in the category last year, achieved twelve podium finishes (the first in his second race), seven pole positions and won eight times, the first in Portugal, in his third Moto2 Grand Prix, later winning in France, the Netherlands, Austria, Aragon, San Marino, Austin and Valencia. Pedro Acosta, for his part, was 12th in Qatar, 9th in Indonesia and 7th in Argentina. In the United States and Portugal he has not scored. He is in the process of adaptation, taming his new motorcycle. He’s a rookie and rookie things are happening to him this early in the season. However, there is too much noise around him and many are already beginning to get impatient.

Fortunately for him. He has the full support of his team, Red Bull KTM Ajo. Raul Fernandez and Remy Gardner [el dúo de KTM de Moto2 en 2021] They are two exceptional riders, but with Pedro Acosta we also have an exceptional rider this year in Moto2. I have a lot of confidence in Pedro and he has all my credit. He will definitely become a very strong rider throughout this season », said this week Pit Beirer, sports director of KTM, in conversation with Speedweek, a portal specialized in motoring.

what Raul did [Fernández] last year, with his eight wins as a rookie, we can’t ask all rookies now. We must not set the bar so high,” stressed Beirer. «We are going to see great races in Moto2 with Pedro Acosta. And we are going to see them this year, since the pre-season tests and some training sessions during the grand prix prove it. It is time for us to have peace of mind, “said the Austrian.

These good results, which have not yet arrived, would help the man from Mazarrón to make the leap to MotoGP in 2023. «Yes, that can happen, but I prefer to have that problem than deal with a situation in which we only had bad riders. Pedro has potential and, when the time comes, we will make decisions about which two riders have to be in our MotoGP team next year,” explained the KTM boss.

Prize in Jerez

Acosta’s start to the year in Moto2, in any case, has not been good. He knows it, although he is not to blame for the extremely high expectations generated after his title in Moto3. He has already accumulated five crashes in training and needs the first podium to arrive to find some calm. This weekend he will try it at the Spanish GP that will be held at the Jerez circuit, where this Friday, at 6:00 p.m., he will be feted for his successes from last year.

Acosta is one of the winners of the IV Jerez City Motor Awards, granted by the Jerez City Council. The engineer Santi Hernández, technical chief with Marc Márquez in the Honda Repsol MotoGP team; the head of maintenance of the Jerez-Ángel Nieto Circuit, Pablo Fernández; and the firm of the energy drinks Red Bull will receive the other three distinctions.

«The city of Jerez recognizes one of the most historic feats that have been known in the 73-year history of the Motorcycle World Championship, when Pedro Acosta equaled the record held since 1990 by the Italian Loris Capirossi of achieving a championship title in his first season in the competition. In addition, never before has a Spanish rookie achieved such a feat with only 17 years and 166 days of age, “says the Jerez City Council in a note.