Pedro Acosta replicates racing 'black magic' of Valentino Rossi

It's become an increasingly undeniable fact that Acosta is a future MotoGP world champion, which is astonishing for a rider who has yet to win a premier class race in his first two seasons.

However, it's rarely been through his own lack off effort that the first victory has alluded him. The KTM is not typically a race-winning bike, but Acosta has nonethless scored ten of the team's last twelve podiums and claimed a sprint victory in the opening round of 2026.

Speaking on the recently relaunched Gas It Out podcast alongside Gavin Emmet and Sylvan Guitoni, Hodgson gave his assessment on the imrpovements Acosta has made since joining MotoGP:

"Pedro Acosta hasn't had a single crash this year. I don't want to tempt fate, of course, but that's like the magic of racing, feeling the front tire, or rather, feeling where the limit is."

He then made the bold comparison between the MotoGP newcomer and one of the sport's biggest ever icons, Valentino Rossi.

"Watching Pedro Acosta yesterday, you could clearly see that he was capable of it. People often ask me, ‘What makes Valentino Rossi so good?’ And I would answer, ‘The feeling he has with the front tire.’ He is literally able to live on the limit; he can do 25 laps at the limit."

Acosta himself also came out after the Buriram test to say that KTM's tyre degradation issues have been significantly improved, which he believes will enable him to compete at the sharp-end of the grid for the coming season.

The 21-year old Mercian is widely expected to shift to Ducati red for the 2027 season, however it is not certain whether he will arrive as Marquez's teammate or whether the reigning world champion will retire at the end of the year.