Marc Marquez: Pedro Acosta ‘will be one of the top guys in MotoGP’

Pedro Acosta looked anything but a rookie during MotoGP pre-season testing, with the KTM rider especially strong in race trim.

A Moto3 world champion as a rookie and Moto2 champion in just his second season, Acosta’s rise to MotoGP has been extremely quick. 

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At times feeling under pressure to perform, Acosta has looked very calm on a MotoGP bike.

And Marquez, who became MotoGP champion as a rookie in 2013, expects Acosta to join the fight at the front: “Pedro will be one of the guys this season,” Marquez told MotoGP.com.

“He has everything to be a big name in MotoGP.”

Marquez wasn’t the only rider to heap praise on Acosta, with Francesco Bagnaia and Aleix Espargaro doing the same.

“He will fight for the top ten, for sure,” added Bagnaia. “It’s too soon and he’s too young to put pressure on him. Let’s see him enjoy it.”

Espargaro said: “Obviously he will be one to watch this season.”

Acosta responded to the praise but said waiting to understand their potential is the first objective.

Acosta told MotoGP.com: “It’s always nice to listen to these things, but we have to wait to see the reality and wait to see where we can be in a MotoGP weekend.

“The new format with the first QP on Friday, also with the qualifying and sprint race on Saturday is going to be a question mark. Anyway, we will try to be ready.

“The last three years I have been living with pressure every day. Imagine a guy that’s 16 years old arriving at the factory KTM team to win.

“It’s three years of his life focusing on just winning. For sure, there is pressure but I am managing better than my first season in Moto3.

“In Moto2 I got a lot of pressure from myself and it was my fault for putting all this pressure on myself. But it’s better now and I just keep it down.”