Trevathan: Other KTM MotoGP riders couldn’t do what Acosta does on his bike
“When you’ve just got to be 90%, he’ll grab that extra 10%”
Pedro Acosta’s crew chief Paul Trevathan believes KTM’s other MotoGP riders couldn’t jump on the Spaniard’s bike and do what he does on it.
Acosta made an instant impression on the MotoGP grid during his 2024 debut season, as he scored nine podiums across sprints and grands prix.
The 20-year-old, who rode for Tech3 last season, ended up just two points behind KTM veteran Brad Binder in sixth in the standings - which marked the highest rookie placement in the championship since Fabio Quartararo in 2019.
Read more: Inside Pedro Acosta's rookie season
Acosta will race for KTM’s factory team in 2025 alongside Binder.
Throughout 2024, Acosta repeatedly managed to extract more out of the RC16 package than KTM’s other riders, with Trevathan pointing to his adaptability as a key trait of the Spaniard.
In an exclusive interview with Crash.net, when asked how Acosta compares to the other KTM riders, Trevathan said: “For example, other guys could get on his bike, exact same set-up, but they couldn’t do what he does on it.
“And then he could probably get on their bike and easily do the same, because he’s so adaptable.”
Trevathan credits this to Acosta seeing himself as a bike racer rather than an athlete, and is therefore focusing his training programme on different motorcycle disciplines.
“He does a lot of riding, which is something I appreciate because he doesn’t see himself as an athlete - he sees himself as a motorcycle rider,” he said.
“So, he doesn’t want to run a marathon, he doesn’t want to be a professional cyclist. He wants to ride motorcycles. So, his training and his understanding is about how to be fast on a motorcycle.
“And then he puts himself through so many different disciplines when he’s riding that he’s always adapting. And then this adaptation comes to the race track, where the bike doesn’t have to be perfect.
“He doesn’t think the bike will ever be perfect. So, he’s always able to put something on top of it.
“And this part is fantastic. And as a technician, to have this in the pocket, where you’ve just got to be 90% and he’ll grab that extra 10% out of it.
“So, in the end, you just make sure you don’t fuck up. And then he can take care of the rest. But maybe for development or stuff like that you can get a bit stuck because, for example, what happened with Honda and Marc [Marquez], where somebody has the ability to take it to another place that nobody else can.
“And then you lose that ability and then all of a sudden the bike looks kind of normal. So, this is tough on the company to really understand.
“But this part of him is something that is really, really unique in this world at the moment. Also, his calmness in the box, he’s never once revved.
“I’m sure his in-laps have been some swearing and cursing going on, because he’s quite an open character, but when it comes to the professionalism inside the box he’s outstanding.
“And he’s never pointing the finger at anything. There’s the story that we never change the bike a lot, and it’s true. But the fact was that many times I’ve said ‘look mate, I’m here’.
“And he said ‘yeah, but when I need you I’ll ask. But let me first do what I can’. And this is the learning curve that us as a company, and even me as a technician, to understand that if I change something between a session and then he puts half a second on top of it, then is it the bike or is it me?
“So, in the end you’re just counteracting each other. So, it’s better to say ‘ok, do your thing and then when you’re in the shit, come and let me know’.
“And we’re working in this way and it’s really, really nice.”
