Pedro Acosta unseen podium celebration: ‘Shall we remove the L’

Pedro Acosta secured his first MotoGP podium at Portimao last Sunday, after getting the better of superstar riders such as Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

Acosta started the race by dropping the likes of factory Red Bull KTM duo Brad Binder and Jack Miller, before making swift progress past Marquez. 

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Bagnaia was harder to pass aboard the factory Ducati as Acosta nearly crashed his RC16 twice when trying to go through at turn one.

But with five laps to go Acosta finally sealed the position at turn three, before a last-lap highside for Maverick Vinales gifted the rookie a podium in just his second weekend in the premier class.

When Acosta returned to pit lane it began a wild celebration between himself and his team, starting with his mechanic who joked about removing Acosta’s ‘learner plates’.

Acosta’s mechanic: “Shall we remove the L?

To which Acosta responded: “That was f****** amazing. The pace at the end was good.

Team Principal of GASGAS Tech 3 KTM, Herve Poncharal then added: “Your face looks perfect.

“Now it wasn’t the tyre [laughs],” said Acosta. “Everyone gets a bonus today.

“I got a better start than yesterday but at turn one [Marc] Marquez touched me. I finished a bit behind, but better than yesterday because yesterday I had a bad start.

Making their way to the podium, Enea Bastianini said to Acosta: “You had a strong rhythm.

Acosta: “It was good, yes. In the end, I kept getting the green light to keep improving.”

So far everything Acosta has touched has turned into gold during pre-season testing and the opening couple of rounds.

The young Spaniard appears destined for success in MotoGP, and his overtakes on the likes of Bagnaia and Marquez proved that.

Discussing his battle with Bagnaia during his media debrief, Acosta admitted it was hard to overtake the reigning world champion: “I don’t know. At the beginning I was too busy.

“I was too occupied by getting behind Pecco.

“Especially at turn one because the guy has really long legs and uses them so he’s more stable.”