Pedro Acosta arrived in MotoGP convincingly, showing great speed in the six days at Sepang – first in the shakedown, then in the official tests. The rookie always stayed in the top ten of the time tables and already went below last year’s pole position time on the same circuit.
KTM has been supporting the young Spanish rider since Moto3 and has now placed him in the Red Bull GasGas Tech3 for his debut season in the premier class. Pit Beirer, sports director of the Austrian manufacturer, did not spare praise for Acosta, stating:
– I saw what all of you saw: he simply came in and did fantastic things. He improved every day during all six days. Showing a lap time at the end that is two tenths faster than the pole position in the race at the end of the year [past]. Therefore, the level at which he enters this class is really high. Everyone talked about him, about how many records he broke in the other categories, how young he is. But then of course it is always interesting to see what truly happens when you go from Moto2 to MotoGP. Things can go better than expected, but they can also become very difficult. He is simply fantastic, he is good and there are some natural things in that guy that are simply fantastic.
