KTM’s feisty rider Pedro Acosta in fifth: a clear message to Marc Marquez too

Acosta had already caused a stir in Saturday’s sprint race, finishing 6th after starting from 9th on the grid. However, this success was somewhat overshadowed by the tyre dilemma facing his rivals. Less than 24 hours later, with the field now all on the medium Michelin rear tyre, Acosta’s pit crew had drawn the right conclusions.

The Spaniard switched into attack mode from Lap 1. The two VR46 riders were overtaken before the first corner. 5.9 kilometres later, Acosta had caught up with Alex Márquez and Ai Ogura. Although the youngster had to let Alex Márquez past again, he caught up with his future team-mate Marc Márquez on lap 7. The KTM rider didn’t hang around for long, even though ‘MM93’ – unlike the day before – didn’t completely fall apart. He pushed past decisively and built up a small lead. He defended that lead right to the finish line.

In fact, after 20 laps, Acosta was just over six seconds behind the commanding winner, Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse-Aprilia). Furthermore, the lap time table revealed that Acosta was setting a pace almost identical to that of the Aprilia works duo of Martin and Bezzecchi – who also finished on the podium.

Acosta grinned after lap 12 on the island: “A surprise, yes – but I’ve always said that we’re not that far off and are racing among the top five. The fact that we’ve finished fifth today on a track that doesn’t really suit me makes me happy.”

Praise for the KTM team

The 22-year-old from Murcia played down his determined attack on Marc Marquez, again with a grin: “No, that was just a normal overtaking manoeuvre.” Acosta had positive words for his team: “I spoke very frankly before the summer break – after all, we’re not far off third place in the championship. But we need two things: reliability – and the ability to step up our game over the course of a weekend.”

Acosta continued: “I’m very pleased with how constructively KTM has responded. We made the best of the situation here; we’ve improved and got through without any problems.”

In the World Championship standings, the strong weekend in England had little impact. This is because Raul Fernandez, whom Acosta is chasing, faltered in the Sprint but dominated the GP. Finishing sixth, his lead over Pecco Bagnaia grew to 20 points. The result – which was further boosted by Brad Binder’s eighth place – also did KTM good in the manufacturers’ standings, consolidating their third-place position.

Willkommen zum Rennen in Silverstone

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Fans

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Raúl Fernández

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Jorge Martin

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Start des Rennens

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Start des Rennens

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Alex Márquez und Pedro Acosta

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Jorge Martin

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Luca Marini

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Marc und Alex Márquez

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Raúl Fernández

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Pecco Bagnaia

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Marco Bezzecchi

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Marc Márquez und Fabio Di Giannantonio

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Moreira und Quartararo

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Raúl Fernández gewinnt das Rennen

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Silverstone-Sieger Raúl Fernández

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Martin, Fernández, Bezzecchi

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Sieger Raúl Fernández

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Willkommen zum Rennen in Silverstone

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