Pedro Acosta on learning from Brad Binder, Jack Miller: “I was just thinking to pass them”

Pedro Acosta finished top KTM in Portimao as the sensational MotoGP rookie claimed his first premier class podium.

Acosta, who convincingly got the better of Brad Binder and Jack Miller, once again overtook Marc Marquez before doing the same to reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia. 

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Discussing his ability to overtake others, Acosta said: “In the end, I was carrying speed and this situation is quite normal for me. Full tank and many laps; right now the sprint race is [harder].

“I’m not fully comfortable in this situation because you see these guys going wide open from the beginning and not caring about anything. 

“But anyway, I was super comfortable with the bike in both races, also in Qatar to make overtakes.

“It’s so familiar this feeling from Moto2 and Moto3. I was not focusing just on the top five, I was just focused on understanding the race and how I was needing to save the tyre.

“In Qatar we saw that I struggled a lot in the end of the race. I was trying to copy Pecco’s movements on the bike because he is one of the best at saving the tyres on Sunday races. For this, I’m happy because I could learn many things behind him.”

Acosta was embroiled in an early tussle with Binder and Miller, but after overtaking Binder, the Spaniard immediately gapped his the more experienced KTM rider.

When posed the question of learning from both factory riders, Acosta said that was not his aim today.

Acosta stated: “Well I was just thinking to pass them. I didn’t have enough time to think. To be honest, I was learning a lot from Pecco on how he was moving his body and how he was playing witht he angle of the bike.

“About KTM it is quite complicated to understand something behind them in the race because sometimes with the wind and turblence your head is moving and you are not 100% focused to see their lines and how they are playing with the bike.

“Yesterday we were losing a lot in turn four and five, also the exit of turns five and six.

“But today, seeing how Pecco was playing witht he bike and with the body helped me understdand how to ride the bike.”