Herve Poncharal: Pedro Acosta ‘is special, different, better’
Herve Poncharal is sure he has a future MotoGP great in his line-up at GASGAS Tech3 KTM.
Pedro Acosta’s debut weekend in MotoGP got off to a very good start as he finished third in both Friday practices.
Acosta then secured eighth place in his first-ever MotoGP qualifying session, finishing just over three tenths down on Jorge Martin’s new lap record.
“A lot has been said already about Pedro, I am not going to repeat everything but, in a few words, to have such a young man entering MotoGP as a rookie and doing what he has done, he is very impressive,” Poncharal told MotoGP.com during Saturday’s final practice.
“We all remember Valencia on the Tuesday after the last race (Valencia Test) and how comfortable he was on the bike and since then it has only been better.
“There were never any setbacks, and this is what we really like, every stint and every run was better than the previous one which rarely happens."
“There were never any setbacks, and this is what we really like, every stint and every run was better than the previous one which rarely happens.
“I think he has got a special relationship with his motorcycle and understands how to extract the maximum of the bike, he has got a mechanical feeling that some don’t have."
Poncharal has been known for giving young riders with a big pedigree in Moto2 chances, and while many of them have impressed such as Acosta’s current team-mate Augusto Fernandez, the French team owner believes Acosta is ‘different’.
Acosta has not looked like a MotoGP rookie in any way during pre-season testing or the opening round.
In fact, Acosta has been outperforming riders with much more experience, with consistency.
Poncharal said: “As you know we have had many Moto2 World Champions and respect to all of them because they are all great riders, but I have to say if you asked me: he is special, he is different, he is better.”
