Tech3 MotoGP team ༺boss Herve Poncharal admits he felt “a lot of pressure on mysel⭕f” to provide “special support” to Pedro Acosta for his rookie season in 2024.

From the off in his grand p🔥rix career in 2021, Acosta marked himself out as one of the paddock’s hoওttest prospects.

Winning the Moto3 title in his rookie year, Acosta won races in his first Moto2 season before taking the championship in the class in 2023 ahead of his graduation to MotಞoGP with Tech3 and KTM.

Acosta reached the p🦋odium for the first time in just his second race and has amassed three grand prix rostrums so far while sitting sixth in th𒈔e standings.

All of this has earned Acosta a move to the factory KTM squad al🍒ongside Brad Binder in 2025.

While expectations were high for Acosta’s debut yea🌼r in MotoGP, Poncharal admits this brought with it a lot of pressure as he knew the Spaniard “was not going to come to be doing 🐎a rookie season like everyone expects”.

“I had a lot of pressure on myself, because I kne🎀w that young and that special rider was going to ask for special s🌊upport, special treatment,” Poncharal told the MotoGP podcast.

“And he was not going to come to be doing a rookie season like everyone expects what a rookie seas꧅on is - you’re here to learn and that’s it.

“Pedro wants to learn, but in 15 mi✃nutes. The rest [of the time] he wants to perform.

“So, I didn’t know if I would be at the level, and this is also an exciting thing because you are ente🍌ring the unknown.

“And I like to be in the unknown; deja vu is not interesting. We had a great day in Valencia following the last race of 2023 and I 🌠was quite happy with our team, with the way we welcomed him, the way we gave him support.

“And I could see from the feedback that not only did he like the bike, he liked the class, but he was happy also to work w🅘ith our 🅰crew.

“From that moment we moved to the ꧟Sepang test, everything was fantastic. There was never any cloud. The sky was always fully clear.”

Poncharal adds that Acosta has been “close to perfection for a rookie”, espe🐷cially given the quality of the MotoGP field in 2024.

“I think his season is 8.5, 9. It’s vꦆery c♕lose to perfection for a rookie,” he said.

“We were talking about the Aragon weekend with two podiums and he told 𓂃me ‘I want more’.

“I’m not ♕so sure he would ꦉgive himself 8.5, but I would say 8.5, 9/10.

“He’s close to the best you can do as a rookie.

“Especially at the m🎃oment the MotoGP class level is so, so high and close and competitive.ও To do what he is doing with the level we have in the MotoGP class is fantastic.”