There is no doubt that Pedro Acosta is one of the big names of the 2024 MotoGP season. While it is true that his impact has faded in recent races, which has led him to visit the KTM factory to see if he is in the right place to become a premier class champion, it is no less true that his debut in the championship was a clear sign of what he can do when he finishes adapting to the premier class.
Even though he failed to become the youngest ever winner in the top class, the Moto2 and Moto3 champion has amazed everyone with his superb results in the first races, as if he didn’t look like a rookie in 2024. But the “Shark of Mazarrón” goes further.
Everyone who works with him has been pleasantly surprised by his incredible ability to adapt. The Spaniard absorbs all concepts instantly, as if he were a sponge, which has earned him the nickname “SpongeBob” among those who accompany him on this adventure.
In 2025, Acosta will move to the Mattighofen factory team, following his natural rise, replacing Jack Miller and working alongside Brad Binder. But in the French structure, where he currently works, they will keep a fond memory of him. So much so that his current boss, Hervé Poncharal, believes that he is the best they have ever had in their history.
And we’re talking about a team born in the 1990s, which has seen riders like Alex Barros, ‘Norick’ Abe, Marco Melandri, Toni Elias, David Checa, Colin Edwards, Ben Spies, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Dovizioso and Pol Espargaro race.
“It might seem like I’m exaggerating, but I think Pedro is the best driver we’ve worked with,” Poncharal said in the “Decoded” program that DAZN recently dedicated to the two-time Spanish champion. “At the Valencia test I asked Paul Trevathan how he saw him and he said, ‘This guy is a sponge.’ From that moment on his nickname is ‘SpongeBob,’ there’s no better way to describe him.”
His technical director, Trevathan, is convinced that Acosta has no limits and that he can achieve anything in MotoGP: “His first laps were broadcast all over the world, the pressure was on and it looked like he had been on the bike for six months. How far he can go I think is a mystery to the universe. There is a rider like him, who comes along maybe every ten or fifteen years. Believe me, with the way he is working and the way he is pushing himself, the sky is the limit for him,” he said bluntly.
KTM Motorsports boss Pit Beirer told an anecdote to illustrate the Spaniard’s character: “In Qatar, everyone was telling him: ‘You’re a rookie, take it easy, it’s your first year’. Then he came to tell me to tell everyone to stop calling him ‘rookie’, that he was already a MotoGP rider and that he wanted to do his job. I didn’t call him anymore,” he explained.
Outside of his environment, Carlos Ezpeleta, MotoGP sporting director, recognizes that he is a great asset to the championship: “He adds value, and shows how well we have worked to have strong support categories in the championship. The expectations on him were high, but he is exceeding them at every level. I congratulate him because he is already a good part of the World Championship”, concluded the Spanish manager.
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