Before the Spielberg race

Acosta: “It’s always been a special track”

Pedro Acosta is seen as a rider who will influence the future of MotoGP

(Bild: AFP/APA/Lou Benoist)

Probably the greatest talent in the MotoGP World Championship sits on a local motorcycle. Pedro Acosta has been riding a KTM for several years, racing from success to success and awakening aspirations. The 20-year-old Spaniard can already call himself a two-time motorcycle world champion, and in his first season in the premier class, Acosta has already finished on the podium twice this year. "He will have a brilliant career," said KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti. Meanwhile, Acosta is already looking forward to the race in Austria. 

As a teenager, Acosta won the 2021 Moto3 World Championship in his first season and the Moto2 World Championship in his second attempt with 14 podiums in 20 races. "He is a special talent," emphasized Guidotti ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix on Sunday (2pm) in Spielberg. In his Spanish homeland, many fans are therefore already dreaming of a career similar to that of Marc Marquez, eight-time motorcycle champion. Comparisons with the 31-year-old superstar are not uncommon due to his success in the junior series, but Acosta thinks little of it. "I am the new Pedro Acosta, not the new Marc Marquez," he said once recently.

KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer discovered Acosta at an early age, and the exceptional talent has been racing at world championship level for the team from Mattighofen since 2021. "From his first days in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, we could see what a special rider he is," said Beirer. "He is someone who does things differently. That makes him unique in the MotoGP world."

Good memories of Spielberg
In June, Acosta extended his contract with the team from Upper Austria by "several years" and will switch from the red GasGas team to the orange KTM Red Bull factory team in 2025. There won't be any major changes to the bike as the bikes are identical, but Guidotti is expecting a "big step" on the technical side. It is difficult to say why Acosta is so fast. "There is more than one reason. He started the season with the confidence of an experienced rider and not that of a rookie," explained the Italian.

In the second and third races of the season at the start of the year, Acosta finished on the podium in Portugal (3rd) and Austin (2nd), and top ten results from the "shark from Mazarrón" were not uncommon recently. "He is in a learning process and trains a lot during the race breaks," said Guidotti. Off the bike, Acosta is a normal guy, very polite and also very funny. "He speaks foreign languages in his very own style," said Guidotti and laughed.

Acosta, who drives with start number 31, has fond memories of Spielberg. "Austria has always been a very special race track," said the Iberian in the run-up to the race about the Red Bull Ring, where he has also achieved victories and podium finishes. There is no track that suits KTM better than this one, emphasized Acosta. He is determined to return to the podium at his home race in Styria, and if he wins the GP on Sunday, Acosta would be exactly 20 years and 85 days old. The youngest MotoGP winner is Marc Marquez at 20 years and 63 days.