Brilliant Pedro Acosta reacts to out-pacing fellow KTMs in COTA practice

Pedro Acosta again shone during practice for the Americas MotoGP on Friday.

The talented rookie was fifth-fastest, the only RC16 rider to earn a spot in Qualifying 2.

The factory KTM duo Brad Binder and Jack Miller were 14th and 16th, and Acosta’s Tech3 GASGAS teammate Augusto Fernandez was 15th.

Acosta was quizzed afterwards how he was able to deliver so much more performance than his more experience stablemates.

“It’s not important for me,” he said.

“At the end, we understand that they are fast.

“They will be in Q2.

“I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on the work that we’re doing.

“We know that our base is good. We must enjoy now when we can enjoy it.

“And, on the days that are more difficult, enjoy the learning process.”

There have been few difficult days in Acosta’s MotoGP career so far.

Still only 19, last time out in Portimao he became the third-youngest podium finish ever.

Acosta is already living up to the considerable hype that accompanied his promotion from Moto2, which he won last season.

He said after Friday practice at the Circuit of the Americas: “Super happy. Top five overall.

“It was not the easiest track for a rookie in MotoGP but we passed it.

“It is super important in MotoGP to pass straight into Q2, for the races. The hard job is done.

“I am happy because we made a step from the morning to the afternoon.

“We know, more or less, the steps to improve.

The stability. There is a lot of bounce on the track. It’s not the easiest. But we’ll have something.”

Acosta explained the difficulties of the Texas track.

“It’s so long. Turn 1 is left, right, left, right, it’s tricky…

“The hard braking with overspeed is tricky.

“The balance… it’s not the same to hit a bump at 280kph and at 360kph.

“But we need to be calm.”

GASGAS Tech3 Team Owner Herve Poncharal added about his sensational new rider: “I don't know how to express my feelings.

“Of course, it's going better than we expected. These first races have been a dream.

“The race in Portugal was unbelievable: the pace, the strategy, the cool head he managed to have.

“When you are a rookie and are fighting with Pecco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez, you can often be fast, but often you can make a rookie mistake, and I touch wood when I say that.

“COTA is a very special track, and with the Moto2, he had a very good feeling, but with the MotoGP, it's a different world.

“But [Friday] morning, within a few laps, he was P1, but we'll see what we can expect.

“We are in a dream, I don't know how to explain it, it's not normal.

“He is fighting with great riders like Pecco Bagnaia, Marc Marquez, and Fabio Quartararo who have been here for a few seasons and raced here in Austin.

“ These guys do things that can't be explained, they are magic."