Pedro Acosta: "What matters is that we are being competitive"

Rider Pedro Acosta of the Red Bull KTM Ajo team is preparing for the return to action of the Moto2 World Championship at the Silverstone Circuit, so after the summer break the championship’s categories are back in competition.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider has made an outstanding start to the season and is showing great progress compared with his first year in Moto2. This 2023 is his second year in the middle category and, in just eight races, he has taken four victories and two podiums.

This is your third consecutive year at Red Bull KTM Ajo. How do you assess your progress over this time?

Looking back, I see very positive progress. In the end, I arrived in the Championship very young, and I think the team environment has helped me grow a lot both off and on the track. I have changed the way I compete, my mentality… I have changed in many aspects over these years.

In 2022 you were the best Moto2 rookie and finished fifth in the overall standings. What do you think you have improved this year compared with last year?

Honestly, in everything. I see that I have improved in many aspects, and I think making mistakes last year has worked quite well for us. We have learned from them and now we have more experience; we know where or how not to make them again. This situation is working quite well for us in the races we have run so far, and in those we have coming up in the next few months.

You’ve covered eight races and have already surpassed last season’s results. What expectations did you have for this start?

Actually, I had few expectations. I wanted to focus on having a season with no mistakes, or as few as possible, improving from race to race and without repeating last year’s errors. We have improved a lot in qualifying and we are reading the races well, and that means we are getting better in every area. Aki is helping me a lot with that. The mindset of going for as many points as possible every weekend is working well for us. In the end, it’s a very long championship, and there are still many moments where we could make mistakes, although we have time to fix them from here on, so if there’s a time to push, it’s now.

How has your approach to the race weekend changed this season?

We are concentrating more on being competitive on Saturdays and qualifying better. In addition, we are working to make Sunday’s race a little easier. In the end, that’s where the points are scored. If I have to highlight one thing, it’s the great step forward we have made in qualifying.

Did you expect to reach the summer break in this situation?

Well, we could have expected it to be a little better or a little worse, but what matters isn’t our position in the World Championship itself. What matters is that we are being competitive, that every Sunday we fight for the podium or even the victory. That’s what has left me happiest going into the holidays.

Which aspects do you think you still need to perfect?

I would like to be a bit more competitive in the wet. It’s true that in these last races we have been, but I’d like to be a bit more so at the start of the race and, why not, be a little more explosive in qualifying. These are things we are improving little by little, and things we work on every weekend.

Your goal is to be world champion at the end of the season. A very intense calendar is coming up, with about ten races in twelve weeks. How do you think this second part of the year is going to be?

It’s going to be tough because, in the end, the races will come one after another, and avoiding injury will play a key role in the championship and in the points. I think we are better prepared for the overseas rounds than we were last year and, although I don’t think we did badly overall, something was missing. In the end, it’s a very long championship and when the time comes to push, we will.

What is your plan for this summer?

Well, the first part of the championship has been intense because there have been quite a few races in a short time, so we’ll take a couple of days to rest. I think we’ll have to train very hard, both with the team and me at home, to polish the details we still lack. The work with the team over these weeks will surely help us in the upcoming races.