Why Acosta’s MotoGP debut outshone Marquez’s a decade earlier

“Unbelievable” was how one commentator described Pedro Acosta’s early rise up to fourth in the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix last weekend. But, in truth, it was anything but.

After all, this is a rider who at the very same Losail venue three years prior went from pitlane to a stunning maiden grand prix victory in just his second Moto3 start. That, of course, paved the way for his charge to the title and an immediate step up to Moto2 in 2022 – by way of more than enough media speculation that he would be fast-tracked to MotoGP by KTM instead.

Acosta’s star has shone brightly from the moment he hit the track as an official grand prix rider back in 2021. And it’s easy to forget that his run out with Ajo Motorsport was a last-minute deal after his original contract with Prustel GP fell through.

Autosport has spoken to numerous key figures in the MotoGP paddock over the past year about Acosta and why the hype around him was justified. All have been proven absolutely bang on the money after the Qatar GP.

Qualifying eighth on the Tech3-run KTM, Acosta finished there in the sprint and then was a solid ninth in the grand prix. However, those might not seem like standout numbers, especially when you make another pertinent comparison.

MORE: Why the impact of Acosta’s MotoGP debut is bigger than his results

Acosta’s MotoGP debut came 11 years after Marc Marquez made his at the 2013 Qatar GP for Honda. The years may be different, but the hype was very much the same. Marquez blazed a similar trail through the junior categories on his way to 125cc and Moto2 crowns in 2010 and 2012 – brushing off a career-threatening eye injury at the end of 2011 – before stepping up to MotoGP in 2013 with the factory Honda squad.

The rest, of course, is history with Marquez. From that evening in Qatar, Marquez went on to win six MotoGP titles in seven years and firmly cemented himself as this era’s great.

Marquez arguably made the most famous MotoGP debut of all time with third place on his maiden start

Photo by: Repsol Media

Rewind to the weekend of 4-7 April 2013 and Marquez did what everyone expected. After three practice sessions, the 20-year-old was fastest of all on the combined times, albeit by just 0.001s. He qualified sixth, 0.931s off the pace, before going on to finish third in the grand prix after losing out in a battle with Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi. Perhaps more impressively, Marquez was 3.2s up the road from Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa – someone few would argue now holds the unfortunate honour of being the best MotoGP rider never to win a title.

Acosta’s weekend in 2024 went as follows: he was sixth overall after final practice, 0.264s adrift, before qualifying eighth with a lap 0.341s off the pace. While his sprint form was noteworthy, it’s a format that didn’t exist in Marquez’s debut year and therefore isn’t worth comparing.

In the grand prix, Acosta overtook Marquez’s…