First half of rookie MotoGP season “4.5/10”

KTM protege Pedro Acosta has given himself a 4.5 grade out of 10 after the opening half of his rookie MotoGP season.

Tech3 GasGas rider Acosta made a storming debut in MotoGP at the start of the year, as he outperformed all his KTM compatriots and finished on the podium in only his second grand prix at Portimao. Another trip to the rostrum at Austin only cemented the belief that he is a once-in-a-generation talent and that KTM has hit a jackpot by signing him under its wings. 

But the last few races have proved to be much tougher for the 20-year-old, partly due to the RC16 falling behind the opposition due to a lack of developments. Acosta himself has made a few unforced errors, with crashes out of points-paying positions at Le Mans, Barcelona and Assen seen as the low points of his campaign.

While one could say Acosta has done a fine job overall, considering he is still sixth in the championship and two points clear of Brad Binder on the factory KTM, the Spaniard himself is “not happy enough” with his results so far.

He said: “We have to look for an average, we have to be realistic, we could have done much better for sure, but also much worse.

“I screwed up, crashed at Le Mans, Barcelona and last week at Assen, I don’t know how many points I would have scored. “[At Sachsenring] it was a new [issue].

“If you multiply by three that’s a lot of points and I think Marc Marquez has 166 [56 more], that’s a lot of points we have lost. 

“Having grown up a little bit with the Austrian mentality that we are better than what we are doing, it makes me think that we can always go better. I’m not looking for excuses, I’m looking for the solution. 4.5/10.”

The German GP marked the last chance for Acosta to eclipse Marquez’s record and become the youngest rider in the premier class. The Tech3 GasGas rider turned 20 years and 43 days old on Sunday, but would surpass the age with which Marquez won his first grand prix in Austin in 2013 (20 years, 63 days) when MotoGP reconvenes at Silverstone next month for the British Grand Prix.

But Acosta says it’s only a positive thing, as he won’t have to dodge questions about beating Marquez’s record any longer.

“It’s better, so you [media] don’t give me any more of a hard time about it. You guys get a bit heavy with these issues,” he said.