KTM rider Pedro Acosta has shared what he told his crew after suffering multiple MotoGP crashes in 2024.

In MotoGP, Pedro Acosta won the 2024 Rookie of the Year award. It’s a prestigious title previously held by the likes of Marc Marquez and Jorge Lorenzo, but has never faced any competition.

Acosta was the only starter on the grid at the start of 2024, despite his impressive results to win the award. The Spaniard is sixth in the championship with 215 points.

He arrived amid much speculation at the start of the season at just 19 years of age. In the year He won the Moto3 title in 2021, and two years later won the Moto2 crown.

Acosta was the first rider since Loris Capirossi to win the championship in his first year in Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Then in 2004 he became the youngest Moto2 champion since Dani Pedrosa.

This earned him a MotoGP contract with Tech 3 KTM Satellite group. After finishing just two points behind Brad Binder, he graduated to the factory outfit.

However, Acosta’s first season was plagued by several disasters. Perhaps unusually due to his lack of experience, he crashed more than any other driver in 2024.

Pedro Acosta has vowed to take advantage of any opportunities despite the fraught MotoGP campaign

In an interview with Australia’s Speedcafe, Acosta was asked to explain why he gets off the bike so often. He admits that many of his mistakes were learning experiences.

For example, he was on course for P7 at the Dutch Grand Prix before crashing on the last lap. He put down his second crash in 10 minutes at the Austrian GP to ‘stupidity’.

But he stands by his gruesome approach. Acosta repeatedly told his crew that, even though he tried to keep it straight, he wouldn’t hesitate to take a risk if he saw an ‘opportunity’.

This could be on the back of both the Sprint and the main Grand Prix in Japan, where he will qualify on pole. He felt he needed to ‘push like hell’ to get his first win.

“I broke down a lot of times because I lacked experience for whatever reason,” he said. “I crashed on the last lap because the tire got a little cold in Assen.

“Then, there were other unprovoked accidents, like the second one in Austria on Friday, or really big stupid crashes (which there were). It is true that we have been clashing many times in the races because we have to push like hell to fight for victory.

“It was the only chance. I always say in the box ‘I won’t crash, but if I see the chance, I’ll go for it’. Many races, like Thailand in the sprint race, we were very competitive, but we have to push. Japan was competitive but we have to push.

“There were a lot of these races that we fought because of that. It may not always be easy to be in between these dangers.

How Pedro Acosta stacks up against the last five Rookie of the Year winners

Since Acosta had no rival for Rocky Mantle of the Year, it’s worth looking back at some past winners to provide a frame of reference. Although the number of tournaments varies, the position of the championship is instructive.

In the past six seasons, only Fabio Quatararo (fifth in 2019) has finished higher than Acosta in the standings. Although he could not win the race, he showed that it was only a matter of time.

One concern heading into the season, however, is the uncertainty surrounding the team. KTM’s top figures insist they are in no immediate dangerBut there is bound to be some stress in their garage.

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