“I haven't gotten off the KTM for 7 years and I think it's also nice to follow a story like this and with a bike that is being so competitive”
MADRID, 3 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish rider Pedro Acosta (KTM) does not doubt that he needs “time” in his jump in 2024 to the MotoGP category of the Motorcycle World Championship, supported by the experience in his debut in Moto2 where he paid for being in a “hurry”, while He assures that it is “nice” to continue his “history” with the Austrian factory and “with a motorcycle that is being so competitive”
“We need time, calm. We have to go calmly because in the end what killed me a lot the first year of Moto2 was being in a hurry. With calm, the results will surely come sooner,” Acosta expressed in an interview with Europa Press.
For this reason, “there is no objective” for 2023. “If we become competitive it will be a good objective achieved because in the end it is not easy, we are seeing that these are not the races of 2013, 2014 or 2015, that there were 4, 5 or 6 competitive bikes. Now the problem is that the 28 are there to win the World Cup,” he warned.
The Murcian did not see the jump to the 'queen' category “in danger at any time” and confessed that he is “more proud” of the KTM management “for having tried everything to find that fifth bike.” “They worked like I have rarely seen a factory work. They were in meetings all day, they looked for a thousand ways to make a fifth motorcycle and that is appreciated,” he remarked.
The two-time world champion also does not forget that they had “a contract” and that they were “always” calm with KTM, although “it took longer” than we would have liked. “They gave us that security of telling us no. “They knew where I was going to go, but that I was going to have a motorcycle,” said Acosta, who “didn't think of doing another year of Moto2.”
“If I finished the way I did, I would be unmotivated and I would not have a reason to look forward to racing because my phase in Moto2, like that of Moto3, is over and now comes a nice challenge of starting with a MotoGP factory, of doing it well, to win the first race, to try to fight for a World Cup,” added the Murcian.
In any case, “there were many brands that asked” about their future. “It was interesting to hear everything, but it was the same response that we had to KTM and the others: 'I have a contract and I want to race for KTM. The real goal has always been to get in orange or red. I think I haven't been in it for 7 years. I have gotten off the KTM and I think it is also nice to follow a story like this and with a bike that is being so competitive,” he noted.
Furthermore, Pedro Acosta considers that Ducati, the factory that currently dominates the category, “has many motorcycles on the track.” “It's also nice not to follow the same river that everyone else follows and try to do something nice with a brand that has supported me for so long,” reiterated the man from Mazarrón.
“EVERYTHING WAS VERY NATURAL IN THE VALENCIA TEST”
His first moment with the motorcycle was in the postseason test in Valencia. “I got off the bike very happy, it had been a long time since I had gotten off a motorcycle this happy. I saw the involvement that the factory had and how professional the team can be,” he celebrated.
“I left very happy with the bike, especially with the management behind the team, the one on the track, the one at a technical level when you get off the bike. I think I left quite excited to see what it is like.” a project that, I don't know if this year or next year, but that will work,” continued the Moto2 world champion.
For him, “the biggest difference” with the Moto2 bike was that he had to “adapt” his riding, but that everything was “very natural from the beginning” because, “removing the two years” in the second category, he had been “five on a KTM.” “The 'DNA' of the motorcycle is there,” he warned.
“I got off happy because they are very natural sensations or they come very natural to me. We were 1.2 away from the lead, which is still a lot and I can't say that the bike is going well because if it were, I would be first, but for “Being a first day and the few things we tried, I think we had to end up happy in general, not with the position, nor with the time, but with how the day went. I'm sure we can do great things,” said the Murcian.
One of the aspects to understand in MotoGP is the sometimes complex electronics. “I left without touching buttons or anything to know what the bike is and understand a little how the subject of electronics works and what a MotoGP is, such as tires or brakes, and from there we did runs focused on managing everything that is to be a MotoGP rider,” he stressed.
The objective of the test was to be “just focused on each thing separately” to ensure that everything came “naturally for a person who comes from Moto3 and Moto2”, categories in which the riders do not have “traction control or so much power.”
“KTM IS GOING TO BE THE NIGHTMARE OF MORE THAN ONE FACTORY”
“It is not natural to press a button while you are braking or to press another when you are about to brake. It is difficult to manage all that, especially in the first laps and there are times when you are going to use the wrong button, but if you do it all day would have done without touching anything, I arrived in Malaysia (first preseason test) from scratch,” said the 19-year-old young driver.
And now, he is leaving on 'vacation' “with a clear idea of what a MotoGP is” and what they will have to “manage more or less in one lap.” “They explained many things to me and now I can see the map of a circuit and imagine or get an idea of where I can use 'x' things. I think this preparation was the most important thing of the day, taking away time and position,” he highlighted. .
For Acosta, “everything is too tight” on the grid. “I have talked about it many times with Augusto (Fernández, who will be his teammate in 2024). He did the same time in 'Q1' as the one who was third on the grid, only you didn't pass 'Q1' and there you go. to finish, but you have the potential to finish third,” he explained.
Acosta is also clear that “right now” they are not “in the moment to talk about whether KTM is better than Ducati” “But KTM is going to be the nightmare of more than one factory. I am no longer going to say next year or even the next one, but I hope very soon,” predicted the Murcian, who will also have to face the Sprint races, which are “under different management” and will give him “an idea of what is going to happen” in the of Sundays. “The mentality for the two races are different, but it will help me understand things much sooner for Sunday's race,” he said.
Finally, when asked about the comparison with Marc Márquez, he was clear. “Marc Márquez is Marc Márquez, I am me, we are two people from two different eras and I think it is not possible to make comparisons nor are they logical things to compare,” concluded the man from Mazarrón.