EXCLUSIVE - Joan Mir: Pedro Acosta’s MotoGP win “a matter of time”
“He has the quality and the talent to do it. So it's a matter of time.”
A podium in only his second MotoGP race and then leading on his way to second next time in Austin saw Pedro Acosta tipped by many to replace Marc Marquez as the youngest premier-class race winner.
Acosta, who spent his rookie season at GASGAS Tech3, had until the German Grand Prix in July to beat Marquez’s 2013 feat of a MotoGP win at the age of 20 years and 63 days.
But it didn’t happen before or after the Sachsenring.
Some of Acosta’s best victory chances slipped away due to incidents and accidents. Still, he remained the only KTM rider to score more than one rostrum last year, with five Sunday podium appearances.
However, he still lost out on fifth and top non-Ducati honours to future KTM team-mate Brad Binder at the Barcelona finale.
2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir praised Acosta’s season and insisted victory is only a matter of time,
“Pedro is doing a great job,” Mir told Crash.net.
“It's very difficult to be competitive in all the tracks and Pedro showed very good speed in all the circuits, so that is fantastic.
“Probably the Ducatis are a lot more in front in terms of performance and that for sure did not help him get his first victory.
“But it will arrive... He's learning a lot and he's extremely fast.
“I'm not surprised that he didn't win - but if he did win, I would also not be surprised because he has the quality and the talent to do it.
“So it's a matter of time.”
Mir took a first MotoGP win on his way to the world title during his second premier-class season.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
