Pedro Acosta makes his debut this year in MotoGP, being one of the most highly regarded riders by his rivals from the start. He quickly put himself in the fight for the top positions and, despite recent results dropping, he already has two podiums and has shown that he has everything to be at the top.
The young Red Bull GasGas Tech3 rider admitted to the newspaper La Vanguardia that his arrival may not have been well received by his rivals, but emphasized that he is not in MotoGP looking for friendships and good relationships:
– For the riders, I don’t think it went down very well. I have a bit of a special mentality: I don’t like to make friends here, I come to have a good time and win, not to go out to dinner with my colleagues. I only have a relationship with two, Aleix [Espargaró] and [Jorge] Martín. It’s difficult to have friends when you’re competing.
In Acosta’s view, his reception by the other MotoGP riders was similar to how he would receive them: ‘They received me the same way I would receive them. It’s important to understand that this is competition, that when you’re out there risking your life for the same goal, it’s not the easiest thing in the world. But little by little, I’m gaining space among the people in MotoGP‘.
Whether respect for him is earned or not is not something that concerns the Spanish rider: ‘I didn’t focus on that. This is a shark tank and you never really gain respect. It has happened with big names, who never ended up respecting each other, like Valentino Rossi and [Jorge] Lorenzo, or Valentino and [Max] Biaggi‘.
