Acosta sprinted to victory without a single mistake: “I had nothing to lose”

KTM rider Pedro Acosta had laid the foundations for his dazzling sprint during qualifying. Ahead of his strong Aprilia teammates Ai Ogura and Marco Bezzecchi, the Spaniard had secured a place on the front row alongside the Marquez brothers.

Immediately after the start of the ten-lap race, Acosta found himself in second place behind pole-sitter Alex Marquez. This was because Ai Ogura had clashed with Marc Marquez on the first lap. The Japanese rider rode aggressively and also overtook Acosta. The KTM RC16 rider then inherited second place. Whilst the white flags were already being waved to signal the onset of rain, Alex Marquez, who was in the lead, lost control.

Over the next four laps, Acosta kept a close eye on the leading Trackhouse rider whilst also holding off World Championship leader Marc Marquez. On lap 7, Acosta best assessed the situation in the light rain around the 5.5-km circuit in the tropics. The Spaniard braked his way into the lead and didn’t put a foot wrong right up to the finish line. Even the fact that Acosta was being chased by Marc Marquez and Marco Bezzecchi on the final lap did not faze the youngster from Murcia.

Pedro Acosta hielt WM-Leader Marc Marquez hinter sich

Foto: Gold and Goose

Pedro Acosta crossed the line as the winner, just 0.6 seconds ahead of Marc Marquez. It was his second sprint victory and third win overall since Acosta moved up to the premier class for the 2024 season.

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At the podium ceremony, Acosta came across as relaxed and laid-back: “Normally, conditions like these don’t really suit me. But today was the right moment to try something different – and it worked. That was only possible, though, because my team managed to improve the front end of the bike so much that I felt confident riding like that. I’m absolutely delighted; after what happened in Australia, this was a brilliant result!” Acosta summed up the recipe for success perfectly: “After all, I had nothing to lose!”

And just how slippery was the track really? Acosta: “To be honest, from the outside it probably looked worse than it was. Turns 4 and 5 weren’t exactly easy, but the tricky bit was actually just figuring out on every lap whether the conditions had changed. We weren’t going particularly fast, and I was able to gauge the risk quite well.”

From Acosta’s perspective, the direct victory over Ai Ogura was also important. With his win in the sprint – Ogura finished fourth – Acosta pulled clear of his closest rival from Japan. Acosta made up five points in third place in the World Championship standings, but he still trails Bezzecchi by 47 points ahead of Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix.