Even if you don’t follow Moto3, you likely heard that a rookie in the category started from pit lane at Qatar a couple of weeks ago and managed to win the race! That rookie’s name is Pedro Acosta, and he won the Moto3 race last weekend, as well, at Portimão. After a second place finish during the opening round, Acosta is now the youngest rider in GP history to be on the podium during his first three races.
Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi have been tweeting about Acosta, with both already anticipating the youngster’s eventual arrival in the MotoGP category.
So who is Pedro Acosta? We couldn’t introduce him any better than re-printing his biography posted on the Red Bull KTM Ajo website:
Pedro Acosta was born in Mazarron, Murcia (Spain) on May 25th, 2004. His first experience riding a motorcycle was at the age of five, when his father gave him a motocross bike. From that moment on, there was no dulling his passion for two wheels. Aged 12, in 2016, he was runner-up in the Spanish Mini Velocidad champion, and a year later he was proclaimed Spanish champion in pre-Moto3.
His debut in international competition took place in 2018 in the FIM Moto3 Junior World Championship, as part of the FIM CEV, as he participated in three rounds that season -aged just 14.
In 2019 he enjoyed another season in the FIM CEV. That same year, Acosta also raced in the Red Bull Rookies Cup for the first time. His adaptation to the promotional cup was very fast, and he was considered a breakout star, claiming three victories, and finishing runner-up in the series.
2020 was a dream year for Acosta. He won the first six races of the Red Bull Rookies Cup, becoming the first rider in history to do so. His dominance and consistency were such that he was proclaimed champion with two rounds to spare. In addition, he also competed in the Moto3 FIM CEV, for the third consecutive season, finishing in third place in the overall standings.
His good performances and his youth mean there is a very promising future ahead for Acosta. Red Bull KTM Ajo have brought him in for the 2021 season, giving him the opportunity to compete with the Moto 3 team in a new class.
Its helpful when, according to the Red Bull site, that he is 1m6cm tall which equates to just over 3 feet. Assuming they meant 1.6m then he is only 5’2″ and probably a hundred pounds. Anyway Moto GP is horse racing and that thins the American herd a bunch.
Nicky looked huge on his bike compared to Dani.
1.6m is 5’3″. Still short but he might grow some.
I wonder why it is that the American talent pool so rarely contains smaller athletes like this? I wonder if it’s the lack of small displacement racing that would benefit the lighter guys? Are just putting kids on bigger bikes at an earlier age?
Average height of the Premier Class grid is 5’9, with Bastianini currently being the shortest rider at 5’6 and Marini the tallest at 6’0. If you look at an elite racing genre like Supercross that has a mostly American presence, average height is just under 5’10. There are more outliers on the tall side (guys over 6′) in SX that pull the average up, but the vast majority of those riders slot into that 5’7 to 5’11 range, just like GP.
Now perhaps that means our talent pools actually look pretty much the same at elite levels, or maybe that’s just because the SX and GP talent pools are developed in a similar fashion – the bikes kids learn on aren’t just smaller displacement, they are physically scaled down as well. Where as of a kid wants to learn to race on paved surfaces here, they are going to start on a Ninja 400 or RC390 which are physically pretty large bikes for all but the tallest kids. It’s an interesting question.
Does Spain have an Alien breeding program? They must take newborns and plop them on a motorcycle seat right after snipping the cord!
They sort of do. The Spanish govt supports motorcycle racing and they have programs for young racers from early ages. Same with Italy.
Yep, it’s actually cheaper for your tot to race motorcycles in those countries than it is for a kid to be on a competitive soccer or hockey team here in the US.
here, we give ’em an i-phone.
Apparently now there is a MiniGP for riders 10-14 years of age with participants lined up from France, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, North America, Spain and the UK.
I generally don’t follow Moto 2 or Moto 3, but sounds like I need to watch this kid race in 2 weeks
He’s certainly one of those riders that seems to have that little something special.
Watch the 2nd round at Qatar, and that’s all you need to know about Pedro Acosta.