Pol Espargaro is hoping Pedro Acosta can finally claim his maiden MotoGP win at this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix on the back of his recent run of form.
While the prospect of Acosta claiming his first MotoGP victory has been a recurring topic of discussion this year, the debate has taken on added significance ahead of KTM’s home round at the Red Bull Ring.
The Spaniard is leaving KTM at the end of the season after signing a two-year contract with Ducati, meaning this would be the last time he will be representing his long-time employer on Austrian soil.
Acosta heads to Spielberg following three strong weekends at Silverstone, Aragon and Misano, where he took the fight to Aprilia and Ducati on inferior machinery.
Asked whether the Red Bull Ring marks Acosta’s best chance of ending his winless streak, with the track having historically suited the RC16 package, Espargaro said: “I hope that this weekend is the weekend. If there is a place, it's here.
“I'm glad that [this round] came after Misano and after Aragon. After a good result for him in tricky places, where we struggled more than we expected, to come here, it should be better. But I don't know how much, and I don't know if this is going to be enough for Pedro to win.
“I hope so. I think he deserves it. He should be winning much, much earlier. I didn't win any race in my sports career, and I deserve a couple, he deserves much more than what he got. If he didn't win, that doesn't mean that he's not good enough or he's not good or he could be better.
“He's riding insane. He's a very good rider. I believe it's, if not the best rider in the category at the moment, it's equal to the best rider in the category at the moment. So I think he's going to get it soon.”
Acosta has been KTM’s benchmark since he stepped up to its factory team last year, creating a sizeable performance gap to the rest of the riders in its line-up.
At last weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix, he finished on the podium in third place, while the next-best KTM rider ended up over 18 seconds behind him in eighth.
However, while he is maximising everything out of the machinery under his belt, the top spot on the podium has remained elusive so far.
When Espargaro’s comments were put to him, Acosta conceded that a dream win on KTM’s home turf would be tough, citing the performance deficit to Aprilia and Ducati.
“Well, we cannot think about victory at the moment,” he said. “It's true that it's our home GP, but at the moment, Ducati is one step forward than us, and also Aprilia.
“You only have to see how competitive Marc [Marquez] was last year. Also, normally Ducati, not only [with] Marco [but also others], is working quite okay here. At the moment, we are still far.”
Acosta, however, admitted that a win in Austria would be a fitting way for him to close his chapter with KTM, which has backed him from early days in motorcycle racing.
“It will be the best way to finish a cycle. I have been at KTM since I was 16. I know everyone since I was a kid, and it will be the perfect way to finish history, knowing that we are far from fighting for the championship with these two [Ducati and Aprilia].
“If we get a victory here, it will be a dream come true and the best way to finish history.”
