Pol Espargaro Teaches Acosta: “In MotoGP, the Best Doesn’t Always Win”

Pedro Acosta, Moto3 (2021) and Moto2 (2023) world champion in less than three years, arrived in MotoGP like a hurricane, engaging in a spectacular duel with Marc Marquez in the first race in Qatar, reaching the podium in the second race in Portugal (3rd) and the third in the United States (2nd).

Of the next eight races, the rookie he didn’t finish two (Le Mans and Assen) and his best result was a fifth place in Mugello while his worst was 13th in Barcelona. Last Sunday, in Austria, was perhaps the most painful race for the Murcia rider, also because it was KTM’s home race. “We arrived with a lot of expectations and I leave with a lot of pain in my chest,” he said after the race.

The moment Acosta is experiencing is what the NBA calls the “rookie wall,” a typical drop in performance that rookie players experience two or three months into their career in the top American basketball league. This situation repeats itself every year, even with the most famous rookies.

“Nobody questions Acosta’s quality, he arrived very strong and that’s why there is a big contrast in the results now. Personally, I think that all of KTM has been put on his shoulders and that is too much for such a young guy, as strong as he is,” a MotoGP technician explained to Motorsport.com.

“Acosta is a phenomenon, he has all the credentials to be a ‘chosen one’, but he is taking on responsibilities in the development of the bike that, honestly, I don’t know if KTM asked him for,” added one of the most accredited journalists in the press room at the Red Bull Ring.

This week, the Murcia rider is in Misano with the KTM test team led by Esteban García and with Dani Pedrosa on the track for two days. The rookie will not get on the bike, but he wants to be close to the brand’s tester to understand “the direction” of the project.

Acosta relies heavily on Dani, but also on Pol Espargaro, the other tester from the Mattighofen manufacturer who raced in Austria as a wild card to bring a prototype that KTM is working on to the track. However, he broke two of the three engines that the wild cards have and was left with only one bike, thus complicating the work of the weekend. Despite everything, the rider from Granollers finished the Sprtin in ninth position and the Sunday race in eleventh.

Pol Espargaró, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

“In MotoGP the best doesn’t always win”

In addition to speaking with Acosta on Sunday, Motorsport.com wanted to get to the heart of the matter and asked Pol Espargaro directly what advice he would give the rookie: “Acosta must understand that, for better or worse, in MotoGP it is not always the best or the fastest who wins. Unfortunately, it is not a sport like tennis or football, or even better athletics, where the best wins. Here you have to have other requirements besides talent to win.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have everything on our side now. Or at least he doesn’t have it on his side. But he has to be patient and I know that at his age, with the talent and the hunger he has, it’s not easy to be patient,” continued the tester. “We are working hard to catch up with Ducati, we have to keep working and Pedro has to keep believing in the project, so he is betting a lot for things to improve.”

“I share the feelings with Pedro, the truth is that he thought that this weekend things would go better. Personally, I lapped faster here (at the Red Bull Ring, ed.) in the tests than during the weekend. We didn’t make it, so we have a lot of things to analyze. The good thing is that we brought the new bike to the track, with its weak and strong points, we are closer to having a better bike”, concluded the Granollers rider.