'That's mighty impressive' - Sylvain Guintoli and Michael Laverty heap praise on Pedro Acosta after strong debut
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ByOli Gent
Updated 09/03/2024 at 18:24 GMT
TNT Sports experts Michael Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli were full of praise for rookie Pedro Acosta, after the KTM rider finished eighth in the Qatar Sprint. Acosta was making his MotoGP debut in the curtain-raiser in Lusail, and was full of confidence after impressing in the practice and qualifying races, coming into the race in P8. Jorge Martin won the Sprint race, with Marc Marquez in fifth.
Pedro Acosta from Red Bull GASGAS Tech3
Image credit: Getty Images
TNT Sports experts Michael Laverty and Sylvain Guintoli were full of praise for rookie Pedro Acosta, after the KTM rider finished eighth in the Qatar Sprint.
Acosta, making his MotoGP debut in the curtain-raiser in Lusail, had already impressed in the practice sessions in the Middle East, qualifying in P8, and the Spaniard was the fastest rider on the racetrack at one point.
He had been promoted into the MotoGP fold by Red Bull GasGas Tech3 after he won the Moto2 World Championship in 2023.
The 19-year-old earned himself rich praise from both TNT Sports pundits Laverty and Guintoli.
“[An] amazing first race,” Guintoli, the 2014 FIM World Superbike champion, said. “That was really impressive from Pedro Acosta.
"He finished 4.4 seconds off the lead, and most of that time was lost off the first lap, so his pace was actually very similar to the leaders in the second part of the race.
“It’s so hard, in your first race in MotoGP, it’s so different to Moto2. You’ve got the aero to play with; you’ve got more weight, more inertia in the bike as well.
"The tyres behave very differently for the length of the race, even for the Sprint. Acosta was able to put it altogether without any mistakes straight away in his first go. That’s mighty impressive.”
Laverty agreed, and labelled the former Moto2 and Moto3 champion’s debut “stellar”.
“He did well to pass Jack [Miller] in the early laps to try and get across to the lead group,” Laverty explained.
“He didn’t quite have it today, but it is his first experience of the Sprint over 11 laps. Tonight he can sit down with his engineers and see if there’s anything he can do in terms of the tyre consumption and how he rides, and learn a little bit ahead of the 22-lapper tomorrow.
“A good opening performance. The level in MotoGP right now across the board, the riders, the 22 machines that are available, it’s never been higher.
“To come in as a rookie, and finish eighth in your very first race, second KTM on the grid, that’s a stellar performance.”
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