“Equal to the best” Acosta backed for Austria MotoGP win: “If there is a place, it’s here”
Pol Espargaro labels Pedro Acosta as “equal to the best” in MotoGP - backs Austria for a breakthrough KTM victory: "He's riding insane".
Pol Espargaro believes this weekend's Red Bull Ring round offers Pedro Acosta one of his best opportunities for a MotoGP victory before leaving KTM.
Depending on the fate of Qatar, Acosta has seven or eight grands prix remaining with KTM before joining Marc Marquez at the factory Ducati team for 2027.
Several of those events are at hard-braking circuits that should play to Acosta's strengths, starting with KTM’s home event in Austria this weekend.
Acosta’s eight runner-up finishes already make him the most successful MotoGP rider yet to win a premier-class grand prix.
The Spaniard took a first Sprint victory at the Buriram season opener, but time is running out to put the RC16 on top of a Sunday podium.
"If there is a place, it's here"
KTM test rider Espargaro, again replacing the injured Maverick Vinales at Tech3 this weekend, believes the Red Bull Ring presents a prime opportunity.
“I'm repeating every weekend, ‘I hope that this weekend is the weekend [for Acosta]’,” admitted Espargaro on Thursday.
“I mean, if there is a place, it's here.
"And I'm glad that it comes after good results in Misano and Aragon, tricky places where we struggle, so to come here should be better.
“But I don't know how much, and I don't know if this is going to be enough for Pedro to win.
“I hope so, I think he deserves it. He should be winning much earlier.
“But as I didn't win any race in my [MotoGP] career, and I deserve a couple, he deserves much more than what he’s got!
“He didn't win yet, but that doesn't mean that he's not good enough or he could be better.
"Equal to the best rider"
“He's riding insane. I believe if not the best rider, he’s equal to the best rider in the category at the moment.
“So I think he's going to get it soon.”
The following Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi is another circuit where Acosta - currently fifth in the world championship - has excelled for KTM in the past.
KTM hasn't won a Sunday MotoGP race since Miguel Oliveira at Buriram in 2022.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
