Whispers in MotoGP paddock that Acosta shares same ominous trait as Marquez

Aki Ajo aided Marquez to the 125cc 2010 world championship, when the rider was 17.

This season, Acosta’s second Moto2 triumph came alongside Ajo.

Acosta is the most anticipated rookie in the premier class since Marquez a decade ago, and is a touted future star.

"It is always difficult to compare and I don't know if it is fair to compare because they are different people, but there is a point that was already seen at an early age,” Ajo told Marca. 

“They were very mature, like old people.

“About Marc, when he was 17 years old, I seemed to be talking with a guy who is 35 years old. 

“Now I can say that, sometimes, it is the same with Pedro. 

“When we talk about life, about work, when we see their attitude that is similar, the maturity and that means that they both know a lot about life, what is important or not and what you have to focus on. That's similar.”

Acosta, still just 19, was so feted that KTM opted to demote Pol Espargaro to make a space for him in their Tech3 GASGAS team.

Expectations for him in 2024 are far higher than for regular rookies.

"It's early to say, we have to see how he continues, but I think he has a great opportunity because it has been seen for a long time that he has something special,” Ajo warned. 

“We have to let him grow, let him focus and we will see, although he has already shown that he has a special talent. 

“For me, it will be interesting to see. Not so much how far it goes, but the road, I will enjoy it. 

“As I usually say: there are potholes on the road and we need the potholes because that makes you enjoy the good results more and we understand life better when we have them.”

The veteran Ajo, having overseen Marquez’s early days as well as other future MotoGP riders, knows that Acosta is a true gem.

"He is really unique,” Ajo says. “This shows how special Pedro is. 

“As we have said many times, he is a very good rider and he rides the bike beautifully, he is very good at overtaking riders and that is special, but, for me, it is even more special how he stays mentally calm. 

“It's because of how he understands life and that's why his attitude is always good. 

“This guarantees that he is calm and prepared to do good things. 

“In addition, that makes him learn very quickly. 

“In his first year of Moto2 he committed several mistakes, of course. 

“Expectations were very high and he had mistakes at the beginning, but he learned from those mistakes. 

“I really enjoyed arguing with him about these things. Many times I told him: 'Don't worry, you need those mistakes. The mistakes teach us, they make them stronger and we are learning a lot from them.' 

“Pedro understood it very well, so if he makes a mistake or something doesn't go well, he always takes it as a learning experience. 

“But he is so focused on his work that he doesn't get stressed about it.”

Ajo said about Acosta in the premier class: “We can't expect much at the beginning, but I'm sure what his goals are and they are the same as in Moto3 and Moto2. 

“He has a great opportunity to have a very, very great career in MotoGP, continue in a correct way. 

“He has also understood that he has to learn in the new category, take time for himself. 

“As happened in Moto2, with the first year, when maybe at the beginning he didn't give himself much time, but, as I told him then: ‘those mistakes maybe come because the expectations were too high’, but they were good for us, we learned a lot from them.

“When you use those moments, you get stronger. He is more prepared and will give himself his time in MotoGP.”