Moto3: Can Pedro Acosta really win the title?

Pedro Acosta has stormed his way into Moto3 this year, is the title really in reach?

Pedro Acosta currently leads the Moto3 World Championship by a monumental 48 points with four wins and five podiums to his name, proving to many that his early season form wasn’t a fluke or a lucky streak.

No matter the circumstances in Moto3 this year it seems Pedro Acosta can perform, it doesn’t matter if he’s starting from the back of the grid, from pit-lane and even from a hospital bed. We all know the story of Qatar when the 16-year-old Spaniard stepped on the podium in his debut on the world stage, finishing in second place behind teammate Jaume Masia before doubling up with a stunning victory just a week later, starting from pit lane and picking off every single rider on the grid to take home the full haul of 25 points, winning in only his second race in extraordinary circumstances at a track he’d never seen before 2021.

Race by race he continued to impress stretching his legs in the championship opening a gap of nearly 60 points to his nearest title contender, once again making the field look incredibly slow at Le Mans starting from P21 and working his way up to P6 in two laps before crashing and remounting once again in P21, re-overtaking the riders he had previously overtaken to finish in P8. There’s one thing being overtaken by a rider, but to be overtaken twice in the same race after they crashed? Insane.

It’s not Wednesday yet Pedro! 

This crazy form seemed to be temporary for many with many people saying that it’s unlikely he will continue this as the season progresses, yet here we are 9 races in with the now 17-year-old still atop the standings with 10 races to go and a 48 point lead, many of the tracks we will be heading to are known by Acosta including Austria, Aragon, Misano, Portimao and Valencia which make up 6 of the remaining 10 races with Malaysia and Thailand likely to be struck off the calendar in the coming weeks due to Covid restrictions in said countries.

Oh yeah, we forgot to mention, he has also won at Austria, Aragon, Misano, Portimao and Valencia in either the Red Bull Rookies, CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship and even the Moto3 World Championship so there is every chance he will be able to repeat this again, this isn’t a fluke and some good luck, he has shown he has raw talent and the ability to adapt and ride whatever is put in front of him.

He has a very peculiar Moto3 riding style, similar to Marc Marquez whereby he rides around his problems and doesn’t spend too much time on set up as he knows the bike will not be perfect over an entire lap, instead he prefers to ride around the issues he encounters and seems to know the Moto3 machine like the back of his hand with some miraculous crash saves and a pretty impressive riding style. This is not forgetting the fact that his racecraft is at a level some MotoGP riders would be envious of, he knows when to fight and he knows exactly when he needs to sit back and relax which provides him with an advantage like no other in the often chaotic Moto3 class.

So, to answer our question, Pedro Acosta’s speed and talent are unquestionable and yes, he is truly a title contender in Moto3.

Image credits –  Gold & Goose / Red Bull Content Pool