PEDRO ACOSTA WINS THE 2023 TRIUMPH TRIPLE TROPHY
The 2023 Triumph Triple Trophy has been awarded to Spain’s Pedro Acosta, after a phenomenal season which saw him clinch the World Champion title, the Triumph Triple Trophy and a seat in the MotoGP category next year.
The Triple Trophy prize, a stunning, unique Triumph Street Triple RS 765, specifically built and customised at Triumph’s global HQ at Hinckley, UK, was presented to Pedro Acosta in Valencia at the final round of the 2023 season.
Awarded by Triumph Motorcycles, the official engine supplier to Moto2TM, Acosta becomes the fourth winner of the Trophy, which runs alongside the Moto2TM World Championship. This is the first time it has been won by the World Champion, demonstrating Acosta’s grip on the season this year.
The Triumph Triple Trophy recognises the many successes and achievements of a GP weekend beyond the race victory, with the scoring designed to reflect the incredibly close nature of the competition in Moto2™:
- 7 points - Best race progression from start to finish: 7 points for the rider or riders making up the most positions from race start to chequered flag
- 6 points - Pole position: 6 points for the rider who qualifies on pole
- 5 points - Fastest race lap: 5 points for the fastest rider/riders in case of an equal fastest lap
Acosta’s consistent pace this season means he has scored points at nine of the rounds - way ahead of his nearest rivals who only had four points-scoring races each.
He scored points for three pole positions in Sachsenring, Silverstone and the Red Bull Ring, and set the fastest race lap an incredible eight times as he becomes the latest graduate from Triumph’s Moto2TM era to step up to the MotoGP category.
The Trophy was secured at the Malaysian Grand Prix in October, when there were still three riders in contention: Pedro Acosta from the Red Bull KTM Ajo Team, Taiga Hada from the Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team and GASGAS Aspar Team’s Jake Dixon.
Hada had scored top points for best race progression four times going into Malaysia to sit second on the leaderboard. It was Alex Escrig who scored top points in that race though, his first Triumph Triple Trophy points, making him the 26th rider to join the scoreboard. With Fermin Aldeguer scoring all the remaining points for his pole position and fastest lap of the race, this meant that no one else could catch Pedro and he was crowned the Triple Trophy winner on the same day that he clinched the Moto2TM championship. Aldeguer’s late run of points has seen him jump into second overall, with just nine points separating second to fourth positions.
Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Ajo Team commented: “I’m very happy for winning this award, at the end of the day it’s an amazing bike. I see many people enjoying riding it and maybe now is the time to get my license so I can enjoy riding it on the road too. In the end we know it’s the same engine that we use in Moto2TM, and we see how fast Moto2TM is. It’s going to be fun to do some stoppies and wheelies on this bike!”
