Pedro Acosta has declared himself “super happy” after finishing his MotoGP debut inside the top 10.

Acosta finished his debut MotoGP Grand Prix in ninth place, but his impression was made long before the chequered flag fell.

Starting in the lower end of the top 10, Acosta rose up to fourth place by the middle of the 21-lap Qatar Grand Prix, passing the likes of Aleix Espargaro, Enea Bastianini, and Marc Marquez on his way there.

Unfortunately, if expectedly, Acosta had used the best of his medium-compound Michelin rear tyre to get to fourth, and fell back soon after. But, by then, his point had been made: Acosta has the speed to win MotoGP races, all that remains is for him to figure out how to make a tyre last. Among MotoGP rookies, he is hardly unique in needing to learn that lesson.

After the race in Qatar, Acosta said: “I’ll remember this race! From the start to the first overtakes to running with the big boys. It was super-nice. I think we need to be super-happy with the whole weekend because it was a dream from the beginning until the end.

“We had a fight with a few riders and it was nice to do that with confidence and to feel the bike working really good. We have to keep working because we are on the way.”

To Spanish media, Acosta was more flamboyant. As reported by Motorsport.com, he described his first race, and his battle with Marc Marquez, as like “when you lose your virginity. Everything is beautiful, and then you make a mess.”

Acosta’s Red Bull GasGas Tech3 teammate, Augusto Fernandez, had a more complicated race, in which he finished 17th following a difficult preseason in which he struggled to adapt to KTM’s new carbon chassis.
Fernandez described his race as “A bit better,” than the preceding Sprint.

“I know we are still far,” Fernandez said, “and we did not get any points today but this is the best feeling I’ve had yet this year with the 2024 bike.

“I’m starting to get the feedback and the team is working really hard to give me what I need and I’m working really hard to adapt if I need to bring something different to be quicker. We’ll take the positives, and we have a base to start with in Portimao.”