Herve Poncharal tells Pedro Acosta ‘you are number one material’
Pedro Acosta’s stunning MotoGP debut led to high praise from many, but none more than his team principal Herve Poncharal.
MotoGP rookie Pedro Acosta delivered the type of performance that will be remembered for a long time as he battled against the likes of Marc Marquez, Enea Bastianini and Aleix Espargaro.
Able to overtake all three at different stages, Acosta was within a few tenths of battling Jorge Martin for a podium before tyre wear cost him a big result.
Nonetheless, Acosta’s debut was a breathtaking one and post-race the Spaniard was relieving it during an unseen clip.
“I think we can be with Brad [Binder] again, top ten, let’s say. 10th, 11th, 12 - this area you know,” said Acosta.
“It’s not that bad for us. It’s true that with the pace we’re faster but we’re missing a bit on the fast lap but it’s normal enough to have this.
“If we improve on this and we’re able to be in Q2; that’s the most important thing. If we're in the top ten we are able to fight for something.”
Prior to that, Acosta was greeted by his entire team after Sunday night’s race.
Speaking directly to Acosta, Poncharal had high praise as he said: “I love you! It was better than you could’ve dreamed of.
“You are number one material. You did something; you don’t realise what you did.
Acosta’s crew chief added: “F*** sake. You are a f******superstar! See how possible it is to overtake.
“Well done mate. I was rooting for you.”
During a brief chat with his team members in the garage, Acosta was full of adrenaline as he explained how the race unfolded.
Acosta stated: “The start wasn’t bad. The problem was that Jack [Miller] passed me again, but was so close and the bike was like [shaking gesture].
“The bike was fast. Also, sometimes I moved out of the slipstream to cool down a bit the tyre.
“Then, one time before I overtook [Marc] Marquez I went wide with him and I said ‘okay, we will wait’. Overtaking was amazing.”
