MotoGP | Acosta: “Pedrosa? More of a rival to beat than a help”

Pedro Acosta is the star of the moment and his first home race as a MotoGP rider awaits him in Jerez. It is widely believed that the first victory could come at the Spanish Grand Prix rookie, and even Dani Pedrosa (wild card this weekend in Jerez) does not rule out that the triumph is closer than you think. However, the GasGas rider tries to keep his feet firmly on the ground and not create too many expectations about the Andalusian weekend.

“It will definitely be fantastic to race in Jerez for the first time with the whole public, it's like Mugello for the Italians, it's a big party for all of us,” says an enthusiastic Acosta during the usual Thursday press conference. “Last year Brad Binder and Jack Miller were very fast here, Dani Pedrosa was also strong, among other things a short time ago he was here with Pol Espargaro to improve the bike”.

Although everyone believes that Acosta can put his first seal in Jerez, the Murcian lowers his expectations and claims to be cautious: “It's true that sometimes you can feel stronger when you feel that the bike is going well, but I have to see how I go. this weekend, we have a lot of question marks. We had a very strong weekend in Austin, but we don't know for sure how we will fare here. We have to stay calm, thinking that we will have a wild card called Dani Pedrosa who will be a rival to beat rather than a help.”

The KTM tester will be competing this weekend in the Spanish Grand Prix and last year he came close to the podium. However, in addition to being a rival for Acosta, he will also be a reference when thinking about Monday's tests, again here in Jerez: “It is important to listen to Dani, not only for what he has done on this track, but for his experience, also when it was in 250cc. I will follow him during the weekend, we know how much experience he has on this track and in MotoGP. I have a lot to learn from him, obviously.”

Learning through others, but also through experience. This is what Acosta, who continues to learn, wants to do: “Electronics and aerodynamics are the worst things of the weekend for a rookie, because we don't have much time to improve or make big steps forward. But ultimately it's important to focus on analyzing and prioritizing the most important things to understand where we can go strongest.”

“I have to start on Friday and see how everything comes, Fridays are very hard days, I have to understand the tires and learn the circuit with the MotoGP. It's not easy, you have to understand many things. We will try to work well, calmly in difficult moments, we know that if victory must come, it will come, but let's not think about it too much”, continues Acosta, who despite the pressure shows great clarity.

However, what leads the young rookie to remain calm despite all the expectations that have been created around him? “It's easy, when I come back I see my people. I see the fishermen working and trying to put bread on the table. I see the real world and that makes it easier to keep my feet on the ground.”