Pedro Acosta has likened his sizzling first premier-class grand prix to “losing you virginity” after the Spaniard exceeded pre-race expectations on his much-hyped debut.
Acosta made his long-awaited maiden appearance on the MotoGP grid in Qatar, where he qualified eighth on his Gas Gas RC16 before finishing eighth in the sprint and ninth in the grand prix.
The Spaniard was particularly impressive on Sunday night, making a series of bold overtakes up the field to run as high as fourth with a shot at the podium after having dropped to 11th on the first lap.
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One particularly poignant battle was with Marc Márquez, whose meteoric career trajectory he’s been tipped to replicate.
Acosta made a gutsy move on the six-time MotoGP champion with 10 laps to go, slicing down the inside of the Gresini rider at the first turn.
He held the place for two laps before he began to struggle with tyre life and physical discomfort, after which point he regressed to a still enormously commendable ninth at the chequered flag.
The 19-year-old was unperturbed by his slow finish to the race, having been buoyed by his early pace and his confidence overtaking his more experienced rivals.
“It lasted just long enough,” he said, per GPOne. “It’s like losing your virginity — everything starts well and then it’s a disaster!
“Today could not have ended so well. I’m satisfied, coming to the first race and overtaking many people is what I enjoyed the most.
“Overtaking people, having the pace and being there was what I enjoyed the most.”
But Acosta acknowledged the experience gap yawned large in front of him despite the positive first race.
He also added that there was more work to do to with ergonomics to match the bike to his riding position.
“Maybe I didn’t manage the race well, between fuel and tyres,” he said.
“We still have to improve.
“They brought a new device here and I think it was a little far for my hand and also a little high. For the next race we will have to have a modified lever so that it goes lower, because it was too far for me.
“It wasn’t particularly tiring though. I had no pain in my forearms, just a little discomfort.”
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Forebodingly, the reigning Moto2 champion revelled in the opportunity to ride the heavier, more powerful MotoGP bike, claiming that it better suited his style after spending two years acclimatising to the intermediate-class machine in the category below.
“It’s not since Mot03 that I felt so confident in overtaking,” he said. “In Mot02 I could overtake a lot and pretty much where I wanted, but that confidence to go behind, to be able to launch myself and know that the bike would stop and everything would be okay — I haven’t had that for three years.
“On that pace I felt better and had more control. That’s why I tried to overtake, especially in turns 6 and 16, where it was more difficult.
“Overtaking was more difficult than I expected in the sprint, where we all had a smaller tank in the sprint and the bike was much more responsive. It was moving more and everyone was faster.
“Today, on the other hand, with more weight the bike was more stable and the tyres too. I definitely took steps forward in terms of experience, and overtaking was easier.”
The rookie’s maiden grand prix earnt high praise from Gas Gas team manager Nicolas Goyon, who described Sunday’s race as the climax of an increasingly impressive weekend.
“It has been an emotional opening round,” he said. “When Pedro Acosta qualified directly to Q2 on Saturday before finishing in P8 at the sprint, it was already a successful weekend for us, but today’s race was MotoGP at its climax.
“Pedro rode an unbelievable race for his first one in MotoGP.
“He fought with big names of MotoGP, and it is a huge achievement for which we can only say congratulations to him.
“He was quite pleased with his bike today, so we can only highlight the job made by Pierer Mobility and the team this weekend and over the winter, because we have a bike to fight for the front.
“He has a bright future ahead of him, and we are just at the beginning.”