Pedro Acosta 'the gift that MotoGP needs', says Michael Laverty - 'He's got charisma, he's got speed, he's got style'

Jorge Martin may have topped the podium at the Portuguese Grand Prix but according to the TNT Sports experts, teenager Pedro Acosta was the rider of the day.

Aged 19, Acosta became the third youngest to claim a podium place in MotoGP when he capitalised on a final-lap crash by Maverick Vinales to take third.

It was a standout performance from the Spaniard, who started seventh but managed to overtake Jack Miller, Brad Binder, Marc Marquez and Francesco Bagnaia.

Describing Acosta as “unreal”, 2014 World Superbike champion Sylvian Guintoli claimed the youngster was the “rider of the day”.

"Just like in Qatar, he was on the attack," Guintoli said on TNT Sports.

"You could see the bike moving around a lot and normally that means you're overworking your tyres, but he was able to keep that rhythm all the way.

"As a rookie, he is amazing. It's only his second race in this championship, and what potential he's got."

Michael Laverty continued: "He is the gift that MotoGP needs right now. He passed four of the hardest riders on the grid today - passing Jack Miller, Brad Binder, Marquez, Bagnaia.

"He made it look easy. It was effortless. Even his interview on the podium, he’s just got everything. He’s got charisma, he’s got speed, he’s got style, he does it with panache.

"We’re going to be talking about him all season long."

In an interview with TNT Sports, Acosta acknowledged that he and his Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 team were "super happy" with the display.

"Tomorrow I will analyse much better," he began. "What is unbelievable is that since the beginning of the race I was much better than yesterday.

"It’s quite new for us and I’m not 100% comfortable at the moment, but we are coming.

"We need to be super happy. We tried some things in the warm-up to understand what we need in the first lap and it worked.

"We need to be more happy about the way we managed this race because in Qatar we destroyed the tyres and here was the race to destroy also, but it was not the case.

"We are making super-nice steps."

Asked which of the four big hitters he enjoyed overtaking most, Acosta said: "For sure, Pecco because I was spending many laps behind him. The pressure from my front tyre was coming super high.

"I was struggling to stop the bike and I said, 'okay, I go and try'. And then he passed me again and I said, 'I need to catch him again'."

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