Pedro Acosta’s manager: “My job is to look for the best bike, but…”

Pedro Acosta’s manager has admitted he is searching for the best bike for the MotoGP rider’s future.

The KTM MotoGP star is at the centre of this season’s rider market with Ducati and Honda lurking.

Acosta reportedly has two obvious options should he decide to quit KTM.

Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team could put him on a factory-spec Ducati, giving him identical machinery to Marc Marquez and Pecco Bagnaia.

Honda have financial muscle, and an improving MotoGP project, to tempt him.

Monday’s Jerez test will be crucial for Acosta’s decision-making, Italian newspaper Gazzetta claimed. He will be swayed if KTM do not bring enough ammunition to compete in the next part of the MotoGP season.

However, although his manager is looking elsewhere, he admits it is plausible that Acosta will stay at KTM.

“Anything is possible, my job is to look for the best bike for Pedro,” Albert Valera told GPone.

“Let’s see where we will find it. Hopefully it will be KTM otherwise we will look for other alternatives. Although right now, it’s still to early to talk about that.

“A rider like Acosta, the best rider of his generation, has to have the best bike, in motorsport it’s like that.

“I know he is grateful to KTM for what they have done for him.

“He knows the difficulties the Austrian manufacturer is going through but he has confidence that they will bring something new in Europe.

“He also has confidence that things will be better in Europe so he doesn’t feel pressure from that point of view.

“If he made mistakes it’s because he was pushing to the limit, he’s a winner and he's trying to win even if the bike at the moment is not the best.

“He’s 20 years old and he has that hard head that tells him it can be done, so sometimes he crosses the line.”

KTM’s project has diminished this season, although they enjoyed a brief reprieve through Maverick Vinales in Qatar until his tyre pressure penalty.

Acosta finished eighth in Qatar and Argentina, his best grand prix results of the year so far.

But this weekend’s Spanish MotoGP at Jerez is a return to Europe, where Acosta - and many of his rivals - will feel their riding style suits.