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Paul Trevathan On Pedro Acosta: "I Call Him An Old Soul In A Young Body"

By David Emmett |

Pedro Acosta's debut in the MotoGP class is one of the most anticipated events of the 2024 MotoGP season. The 19-year-old Spaniard made a devastating impact in his rookie season in Moto3, got off to a tricky start in Moto2 - "In my first year in Moto2, maybe I wasn't 100% conscious about what was going to come," Acosta told me at Sepang - then cruised to the Moto2 crown in his second season.

Acosta is a rare talent, and is universally tipped to do well in MotoGP. He was quick in Valencia, less than seven tenths behind the new record set by Pecco Bagnaia at the Sepang test, and just over a second slower than Bagnaia in Qatar. He beat his teammate in both tests, and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Jack Miller at Sepang. He kept an illustrious list of riders behind him at both tests.

A promising start, but testing is not racing. The man charged with guiding him through his MotoGP debut is veteran crew chief Paul Trevathan. The New Zealander, based for many years in The Netherlands, was previously crew chief to Pol Espargaro, and was partnered with Acosta by KTM, as the best person to nurture Acosta's immense talent in the premier class.

At Sepang, I interviewed Trevathan about how the process had gone so far. We had a fascinating conversation on how quickly Acosta was adapting to MotoGP, the process of getting a rookie up to speed in MotoGP, and building a relationship with a teenage MotoGP star.

Q: What Pedro Acosta like as a rider to work with? And what do you have to do for him, a a rookie?

PT: To be honest, I have never worked with a rookie in this class before. So that was also something to get used to, everyone who has come before has been a little bit more advanced in their career. So that part of it would normally be easier. It's about getting comfortable on the bike, getting them to understand how we are working, and from then you are away and running, you know.

But when you have a rookie, to be honest, I think because it's Pedro, it's exactly like he is an experienced rider from the class. You know that part was quite shocking in a way, how he adapted and how he understands everything so easily. That part of it was amazing.

KTM
Pedro Acosta
MotoGP
Sepang, Malaysia
CormacGP
KTM
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Comments

No repeats, so please check the chronological list. Use this format as seen below. Reminder, Top Independent can be a repeat. Just post in a comment wherever you see this over Winter (ends Thurs night before Round 1). = LAST YR'S WINNER SENDS THIS YR'S A SHIRT = Good luck!

Faitbien 1. Bagnaia 2. Bezzechi 3. Bastiannini 4. Quartararo 5. Rins I. DiGiannantonio

Motoshrink 1. M.Marquez 2. Bagnaia 3. Martin 4. DiGiannantonio 5. Binder I. M.Marquez

oldholla 1. M Marquez 2. Bagnaia 3. Binder 4. Martin 5. Quartararo I. M Marquez

Matonge 1. M Marquez 2. Martin 3. Bagnaia 4. Bezzechi 5. Binder I. M Marquez

Riesjart 1. Bastianini 2. Bagnaia 3. Martin 4. M.Marquez 5. Binder I. M.Marquez

Fineon 1. M.Marquez 2. Martin 3. Bagnaia 4. Bastiannini 5. Binder I. M.Marquez

Whooligan 1. M. Marquez 2. Bagnaia 3. Martin 4. Bastianini 5. Binder I. M. Marquez

Gerrycollins 1. M.Marquez 2. Martin 3. Bagnaia 4. Binder 5. Miller I. M.Marquez

Kailas 1. Marquez 2. Bagnaia 3. Martin 4. Bastianini 5. Acosta. I. Marquez

MotoGPfan93 1. M Marquez 2. Martin 3. Bagnaia 4. Binder 5. Bastianini I. M.Marquez

D999 1. M.Marquez 2. Martin 3. Pecco 4. Binder. 5. A.Marquez I. M.Marquez

stumo. 1 M.Marquez 2.Bagnia 3.Martin 4 Binder 5 DiGi I M.Marquez

GSP 1. Bagnaia 2. M.Marquez 3. Martin 4. Bezzechi 5. Quartararo I. M Marquez

St. Stephen 1. Binder 2. Bagnaia, 3. Martin 4. Bezzecchi 5. Marini I. M Marquez

guy smiley 1. Bagnaia 2. M.Marquez 3. Binder 4. Martin 5. A.Marquez I. M.Marquez

stefank 1. Bagnaia 2. Bastianini 3. Martin 4. Binder 5. Miller I. M.Marquez

Tony G 1. Martin 2. Bagnaia 3. Bastianini 4. M.Marquez 5. Binder I. M.Marquez

Ibis117 1. Bastianini 2. Bagnaia 3. M.Marquez 4: Oliveira 5. Binder I. Acosta

Moto Mondo 1. Bastianini 2. Bezzechi  3.Bagnaia  4. Acosta  5. Binder I. Acosta

Onsight512 1. Martin 2. Bagnaia 3. Binder 4. Acosta 5. M.Marquez I. M.Marquez

Machine 1. Bagnaia. 2. M.Marquez  3. Bastianini  4. Martin  5. Bezzechi  I. Oliveira

Wolferl123 1. Binder  2. Bagnaia 3. Bastianini 4. Espargaro 5. Martin I. Martin

Yud77 1. Bastianini  2.  Bagnaia  3. M.Marquez  4. Martin  5. Acosta  I. M.Marquez

berndbuchwald 1. Martin 2. Bagnaia 3. M.Marquez 4. Binder 5. A.Marquez I. Martin

Spongedaddy 1. Bastianini 2. Binder 3. Quartararo 4. Vinales 5. Mir I. M.Marquez

dewang 1. Bezzechi 2. Martin 3. Bagnaia 4. Binder 5. M.Marquez I. Bezzechi

DefTechDP 1. Bagnaia 2. M.Marquez 3. Bastianini 4. Espargaro 5. Acosta I. M.Marquez

Elisabeth Rightwrist 1. Martin 2. Bagnaia 3.Bastianini 4. M.Marquez 5.Binder I. M.Marquez

Honda.fan69 1. M.Marquez 2. Martin 3. Bagnaia 4. Binder 5. A. Espargaro I. M.Marquez

nh_painter 1. Bagnaia 2. M.Marquez 3. Binder 4. Martin 5. Bastianini I. M. Marquez

dman904 1. Bagnaia    2. M. Marquez    3. Bezecchi    4. Binder   5. Bastianini  I. M. Marquez

argiris.christ 1. M.Marquez 2. Bastianini 3. Martin 4. Bagnaia 5. Binder I. M.Marquez

TooMuchTi 1. Bagnaia  2. M Marquez 3. Martin 4. DiGiannantonio 5. Bastiannini I. M.Marquez

ZRX1200mnRob 1. M.Marquez, 2. Binder 3. Bagnaia 4. Martin 5. Bezzechi  I. M.Marquez

UZWEEM 1. Bagnaia 2. Bezzechi 3. Bastianini 4. M.Marquez 5. Mir I. Bezzechi

Chuckracer 1. Bagnaia 2. DiGiannantonio 3. Binder 4. Acosta 5. M.Marquez I. Martin

Powervalve58 1. Bastianini 2. Bagnaia 3. Espargaro 4. Binder 5. R.Fernandez I. R.Fernandez

JayLaw 1. Bagnia 2. Martin  3. Binder 4. M.Marquez 5. Acosta I. Martin

Cloverleaf 1. Bradl 2. Crutchlow 3. Savadori 4. Pedrosa 5. Pirro I. A.Fernandez

JINX 1. Nakagami 2. R.Fernandez 3. A.Fernandez 3. Marini 4. Rins 5. Vinales I. Nakagami

Welcome Mondo! FM21 "injured/late start and maybe dark horse?" Tough field right now. He was looking motivated at both the Yellow Ranch and production bike training, until boom-OUCH. I have him pegged pretty low, curious if he will have a resurgence and how high but expecting it to be mild (2nd to last Ducati this yr, unless the 2024 bike is a very big step fwd from the '23).

^ Acosta has some nods! Fingers crossed you are correct re Bastianini.

With the tight field you get forced to leave great riders out of a Top 5 eh? This is NOT looking like a given Bagnaia/Martin two rider battle is it? You have to leave a couple riders out that are arguably potentials to win the title, like Marc or DiGia in your case. Isn't that cool?

A few riders are a tough read right now. Fun!

CLOVERLEAF have we missed you? Who else is yet to hop in?

Asking where' s Morbidelli was kinda rhetorical. As you pointed out, he was going great earlier on but then he had his training mishap and sat out the two tests. I had him pegged for 3rd position in January, but I think his attitude has shifted. I sure hope not.  Marc and Martin are not in my list because I expect them to knock each other out (literally).

  1. Martin 2. Bagnaia 3. M.Marquez 4. Binder 5. A.Marquez I. M.Marquez

    Martin will win every Sprint he doesn't crash out of. Bagnaia will tangle up and loose points with everybody at crucial times. The Marc can't beat the factory bikes constantly enough. Alex is more talented than his older brother (as per "the saying goes"). Bring it on!

Despite knowing that testin' ain't racin', wow did Bagnaia look good.

 

Original picks before testing:

1. M Marquez 2. Martin 3. Bagnaia 4. DiGiannantonio 5. Bastiannini I. M.Marquez

 

If we are allowed to re-vote:

1. Bagnaia  2. M Marquez 3. Martin 4. DiGiannantonio 5. Bastiannini I. M.Marquez

Hey Motoshrink, let's get in to it! 

1 Bagnia

2 Martin 

3 Binder 

4 M. Marquez

5 Acosta

I feel sad to not have any Honda's or Yamaha's I there bit I don't think they're going to have the instant flip in results I'm sure they're hoping for. Same for Aprilia, a fantastic bike that will be hampered by not being almost there on the off days, and that very much goes for the riders not just the machines. Like you said above, so many good options, not having the beast and Bezz in there might be a bad call but I'm hoping for an upset to the Ducati winning machine somewhere!