Moto2: 2022 rookie profile – Pedro Acosta

2021 Moto3 World Champion Pedro Acosta graduates to Moto2 for 2022.

Feels a bit silly writing this, if you haven’t heard of Pedro Acosta by now you seriously have been living under a rock, regardless, here is his rookie profile.

Pedro Acosta is one hell of a talent, the 17-year-old came from humble beginnings with a family who didn’t have the cash to fund an extravagant racing career with teams demanding upwards of €300,000 a season these days to race in the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship, he had to fight the hard way doing a wildcard every so often and struggling for financial support.

Pedro Acosta will race for the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad for 2022.

His racing career was saved in 2019 when he was offered a seat in the Red Bull Rookies, a series that equips riders with helmet and leather suit sponsors meaning they don’t have to fund their own plus a free bike and free repairs to said bike in case of a crash, all the riders had to do was get to these races.

This was perfect for Pedro, he didn’t have to worry about the expenditure of new helmets and suits if he crashed and absolutely didn’t have to worry about paying for a seat, he was handed a chance to prove his talent to the world in 2019 and gain experience racing on Grand Prix tracks at Grand Prix events as a support race. He went and repaid his thanks with class, the rookie finished up as the runner up that year after a stunning season that saw him take 3 wins and 5 podiums, missing the opening two rounds. If he had raced at the season-opening double race at Jerez he would’ve dramatically closed the gap to champion Carlos Tatay.

Acosta would win the Red Bull Rookies Cup in only his second attempt.

Doors soon opened up for him to race in the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship for 2020 with the MT Helmets team, he took this lifeline and wrung its neck, squeezing every result he possibly could out of it eventually finishing in P3 overall in the series in his first year as a full-time rider. Over in the Red Bull Rookies Pedro caused absolute chaos winning the open 6 races and cruising to the title, proving once again that he obtained superior talent to the rest of the grid.

With a title and a P3 medal in his back pocket Pedro would find himself in the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad for 2021 despite originally signing for PrustelGP. Some internal swaps were made with Raul Fernandez being bumped up to Moto2 which opened the doors for the then 16-year-old to graduate to the World Championship with the best team on the grid, another lifeline, another chance to prove what he’s got.

Victory from pit lane? Insane.

The rest is history at this point, Pedro would say before the season even started to Motorsports Spain that he felt he had what it takes to win the title as a rookie, an absurd thought given how brutal and demanding the series is. Yet when he stood on the podium on his debut at Qatar, things started to change, then when he won his second ever race in the class from pit lane, things really changed.

From this moment onwards the title was his, he led the championship for every single round eventually coming home as the 2021 Moto3 World Champion as a rookie, a feat most recently achieved by Loris Capirossi in 1990.

In 2022 Pedro graduates to Moto2 with the same Red Bull KTM Ajo squad and he’s hoping to do some damage.

 

Featured images – KTM Media – Polarity Photo

Gold and Goose – Red Bull

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