Mat Oxley reminded of Valentino Rossi after what he’s seen from Pedro Acosta at KTM

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Pedro Acosta has compared to Marc Marquez so often that it’s become tiresome for the KTM rider. But now Mat Oxley has drawn a parallel between Acosta and Valentino Rossi.

As revealed on the most recent season of ‘There Can Be Only One’, Acosta hates being called the next Marquez. It naturally raises expectations to an uncomfortable extent.

Marquez is a six-time MotoGP champion, while Acosta is still yet to win a race in the premier class. He bagged his first-ever pole position in Japan last season but crashed out of both races.

Still, the Spaniard’s rookie season underlined his status as one of the best talents of his generation. The four Ducati teams all finished in the top five, such was their dominance, but Acosta was still able to score five podiums.

He still needs to refine his riding. Acosta could have been top five at the Thailand Grand Prix, his KTM factory debut, without an early accident.

But the consensus is that he’ll go on to win multiple titles at the highest level. It’s just a question of when a team provides him with a contending bike.

Pedro Acosta and Paul Trevathan are the next Valentino Rossi and Jeremy Burgess

During an interview with Oxley and Australian Motorcycle News, Acosta discussed his relationship with KTM crew chief Paul Trevathan. He praised the engineer for his emotional intelligence and management skills.

“Paul isn’t just an engineer with a computer,” he said. I really love how he manages all the crew, how he manages my head, how he manages everything around me and how we’ve made our group super-close, so it’s not possible to put s— between us.”

• READ MORE: Everything to know about Pedro Acosta from net worth to girlfriend

Trevathan previously worked with Pol Espargaro, who raced for KTM during the second half of the 2023 season. He was then tasked with guiding the newcomer Acosta last year.

Oxley says their relationship is ‘reminiscent’ of Valentino Rossi and Jeremy Burgess, who combined for all seven of The Doctor’s MotoGP titles at Honda and Yamaha. Burgess also worked with Wayne Gardner and Mick Doohan.

Acosta and Trevathan have already developed a similarly ‘strong’ bond. Should he leave KTM, it remains to be seen whether his crew chief will follow.

Pedro Acosta knows what he was ‘missing’ after topping MotoGP crash table

Acosta has also been compared to a legendary motorsport figure outside MotoGP. KTM boss Pit Beirer marvels at his work ethic.

Beirer likened Acosta to Michael Schumacher, who won seven Formula 1 world championships. He’s apparently the last rider to leave the pit lane after studying data with Trevathan and co.

A big focus on his side of the KTM garage will be eliminating accidents. In that regard, the season got off to an inauspicious start, even though he’s consistently looked like the faster rider on the RC16.

Reflecting on last year, Acosta said he was ‘missing’ calmness’ at Tech3. He’s trying to change his mindset and recognise when it’s necessary to take a risk.