Can KTM cling onto Pedro Acosta long-term? “It goes hand-in-hand with results”

If Pedro Acosta shines in MotoGP as many experts believe he will, he will attract admiring glances from elsewhere pretty quickly.

Officially the rookie is contracted only for this year but KTM are expected to retain a clause to keep their bright young starlet.

Before the 19-year-old’s first race for the Tech3 GASGAS team, there is already pressure on KTM to prove their worth to stop him finding a better bike elsewhere.

“I would like him to stay at KTM,” Pol Espargaro told Marca.

“We can't let a talent like that escape.

“I think Pedro also wants to stay, but obviously it goes hand in hand with the results working in the factory KTM team and in the GASGAS team.

“That one of the two, from GASGAS or KTM, works and that lets him understand that he too can achieve it.

“Maybe that role is played by Brad Binder, who is a great rider and who is at his best moment of maturity.

“If he is capable of achieving results, Pedro can say to himself: 'Okay, if Brad is capable, so can I…'

“Then he can follow in the footsteps perhaps in the factory KTM team, if one of the two drops out.

“In that case it would have to be Jack Miller because Brad has a contract until 2026, but I would like him to stay.”

Acosta arrives in MotoGP with fanfare not seen since Marc Marquez’s rookie year.

“It has been a long time since I have seen a rider with such talent debut in MotoGP,” said Espargaro, who lost his full-time seat to make room for Acosta.

“I saw him in Malaysia. Maybe in Malaysia it was something a little more real than in the other places because he did three more days of testing than the others.

“When the others arrived he already had some experience on this circuit.

“He will not have that experience especially in the first races outside of Europe, which is where he has ridden less.

“So the first races, I think it's going to be a little bit of learning, especially understanding the new timing, because it changes a lot from Moto2 to MotoGP.

“The sprint races on Saturdays, the qualifying in the morning, it's a lot of intensity.

“The weekends are very stressful and he will have to adapt to that little by little, but I am convinced that when the European races arrive and he races on the circuits to which he is more accustomed, the real talent will be seen there.

“Be that as it may, I think Pedro is a great talent and we are going to enjoy it.”

What has impressed Espargaro most about Acosta during preseason testing?

“The adaptation he has had,” Espargaro answered.

“I am very surprised by his maturity despite how young he is.

“MotoGP is very different from Moto2. It changes a lot: the electronics, all the gadgets. He has to lower the bike during acceleration, how he has to adapt to the power, the carbon brakes, the new tyres.

“He has shown great maturity in adapting to all of them.

“There are many Moto2 riders who arrive and find it very difficult when they put on the new tyre because you have to ride in a very different way than with the used tyre.

“He did it instantly and we have seen it in the fast laps.

“The maturity that faces these changes is impressive to me.

“Acosta has a personal style and I don't like to compare riders with other riders because each one does things in a very different way.

“We see Pedro riding with his body very far from the motorcycle and that is very good because it means that all the problems that are arising with the motorcycle inside the curve do not affect him in his body and do not cause the weight of the motorcycle to vary, and that is something very interesting.

“I have not seen that from many riders.

“For example, Marc Marquez is a rider who works very well off the bike, Jorge Martin too.

“But in his riding style, he also rides very far in front of the bike in the front axle.

“That also helps if there is a problem in the front axle, he is able to solve it very quickly.

“Pedro has a very peculiar riding style that is very different and that I like a lot.”