MotoGP | Acosta: a debut worthy of the best in history

Ever since Max Biaggi made his debut in the premier class at the 1998 Japanese Grand Prix with an unexpected victory in 500cc, the bar for debuting in the MotoGP world championship has been set at a height that no one, to date, has been able to match : only a select few have come close, and they did it in an era of the championship that has nothing to do with the current one.

If we look at the cold statistics, a factor that for too many years now has become a beacon above all others in this sport, the debut of the Spaniard Pedro Acosta in the Qatar GP on Sunday, with a 9th place, would not even enter in the top 10.

However, the show that the young driver from Murcia offered, in his debut in front of the general public, was of a level that few others can match, confirming what many believe, that Acosta will visit the top step of the podium rather soon .

In the history of modern motorcycling, the most famous debut in the premier class was of course that of Biaggi, who won the 1998 Japanese GP in 500cc, beating a grid that included illustrious names such as Alex Crivillé, Alex Barros, Carlos Checa, Sete Gibernau and Roberts Jr, as well as Japanese riders Okada and Haga, who completed the podium.

Two years after that result, the whole of Italy was in front of the television to witness the 500cc debut of child prodigy Valentino Rossi. The “Doctor”, however, ended up crashing in his first race at the South African GP.

Troy Bayliss' fifth place on his MotoGP debut in the 2003 Japanese GP was the closest result to Biaggi's that we saw at the start of the season until the Spaniards arrived.

Dani Pedrosa's debut aboard the Repsol Honda in the 2006 Spanish Grand Prix was confirmation that we were in the presence of a phenomenon, one of the best riders in history and also the one who had the least luck, with the injuries that prevented from reaching the title.
Pedrosa got fans out of their seats with a superb performance at the Jerez circuit, where almost 20 years later, on 28 April, he will once again race as a wild card with KTM. In the end, the driver from Sabadell crossed the finish line second, ahead of veteran Loris Capirossi.

On the same day, another young talent, Casey Stoner, made his debut aboard an LCR team Honda, finishing sixth at the finish line. The following year he would become MotoGP champion, delivering his first title to Ducati.

It took only two years for another Spaniard, Jorge Lorenzo, to amaze the entire paddock in the first night race in history, taking pole position on his debut, the Qatar Grand Prix, and the following day (10 March, 16 years ago) finishing second in the race, five seconds behind Casey Stoner and trailing Pedrosa by another five, with Andrea Dovizioso and Valentino Rossi further back.

In 2013, the MotoGP World Championship saw one of the most promising debuts in history, that of Marc Marquez, who finished third in the Qatar Grand Prix, behind Lorenzo and Rossi. Marc's result was not the best debut in history, not even better than that of Pedrosa or Lorenzo. But while the rider from Sabadell needed four races to get his first victory in the premier class, the 2006 Chinese GP, and the Majorcan only got it in the third, the 2008 Portuguese GP, Marc won in its second appearance, the 2013 GP of the Americas.

Pedro Acosta's debut will certainly not go down in history for its result (9th), but the duel between the 19 year old and the multiple champion Marquez during some of the most intense laps seen in recent years in MotoGP will certainly take time to be forgotten.

Some of the best MotoGP debuts