Pedro Acosta lauded by rivals including Marc Marquez as 'phenomenal' after 'incredible race' at Portuguese Grand Prix

Believe the hype seems to be the message with Pedro Acosta after he stormed to a podium finish in just the second MotoGP race of his career.

The Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rookie came third at the Portuguese Grand Prix behind Jorge Martin and Enea Bastianini.

The 19-year-old showed his speed and skill as he passed Brad Binder, Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia on his way to becoming the third-youngest rider in history to claim a MotoGP podium place.

“First of all, I’m not surprised,” said race winner Martin about Acosta.

“He reminds me a bit of myself, as I also finished third in my second race. For sure, he will be one of the toughest guys to beat in the future. But it’s not a surprise because we all know he has the talent, and he is here today with us."

Six-time MotoGP champion Marquez was also impressed with Acosta’s display.

“You can see with Pedro that he’s riding with that instinct, with no fear.

“He’s just pushing the bike and it doesn’t matter what, and today he did an incredible race, and he was riding in a very good way. So yeah, impressive. But I already said before Qatar, he will be one of the names in the future, but also in the present."

Acosta came into MotoGP this season with plenty of expectation after winning Moto3 and Moto2 titles over the last three years.

So far, he doesn’t looked overawed by the step up and currently sits fifth in the overall standings.

Fellow KTM rider Jack Miller, 29, says he has already seen plenty he can learn from Acosta.

"He's not really on top of the bike, he's out of the bike a lot," said Miller, as quoted by motorsport.com.

“He has everything touching the ground. Looks like his head is about to touch the ground at some point.

"The style is impressive, especially when you look behind. I can only wish to ride like that. I'm a little less stylish, maybe.

"He's riding well, he can put the bike where he wants to. That's a positive thing. We have improved this KTM an incredible amount in the last 12 months, he's taking full advantage of it.

"Now we need to use him as a target and try to understand what he is doing differently and learn from him. I'm 29, but I'm still learning every race."

Miller added that both himself and Binder "had our tongues hanging out" while trying to make a move on Acosta.

"I didn't really have a chance [against Acosta]," he said.

"Me and Brad got pretty close in the braking zone and I ended up off the kerbs. I left the door open for Pedro.

"Pedro rode fantastic. Once he got past Brad, he kind of just put the hammer down.

"Brad and I both had our tongues hanging out trying to chase him down but we couldn't do anything about it. He looked good on the bike.

“He’s phenomenal… Like I said, I really was trying, I started having a few moments and then I said, ‘You’re going to end up on your head here in a minute if you keep going,’ but no, he rode fantastic, he looks fantastic on the bike.”

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