Pedro Acosta fourth despite damaged KTM: “We have to take a few risks!”

Pedro Acosta flew the flag for KTM in the MotoGP Sprint at Aragon . After securing 6th on the grid despite a crash in Q2, the Spaniard fought his way up to 4th place in the afternoon. He finished just 2.6 seconds behind winner Marc Marquez (Ducati). This made Acosta by far the best KTM rider. His team-mate Enea Bastianini, the second-best rider on an RC16, finished in 14th place.

Nevertheless, Acosta was not entirely satisfied with his performance. “I made too many mistakes in the race. I think I have more potential. But it is what it is,” concluded the 22-year-old. Overall, his KTM had felt good.

Contact at the start and flying bodywork

The start didn’t go well for Acosta. According to Acosta, since the ban on front launch devices, KTM has found it harder to get off to a good start. “I made a mistake at the start. I lost my position and had to make it up again. In the process, a wing broke off behind my backside,” reported the KTM factory rider.

The damaged aerodynamics subsequently made themselves felt on the track. “I found it really difficult to control the bike in the fast right-hand corners,” explained Acosta.

Pedro Acosta fuhr mit beschädigter Aero

Foto: Gold & Goose

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His battle with World Championship leader Jorge Martin cost him further time. “I lost a bit of time battling with Martin. I think we could have done better.”

Nevertheless, the positive impressions prevailed after the sprint. One statistic in particular left Acosta feeling satisfied. “I’m happy because, for the first time in my MotoGP career, I set my fastest race lap on the final lap.”

The fact that he was still able to set his personal best lap at the end of a sprint underlines the Spaniard’s strong pace. Especially when compared to the difficult start on Friday, Acosta therefore regarded fourth place as a success. “Fourth place makes me happy when I think about how difficult it was for us yesterday.”

Crash in qualifying was a calculated risk

Even in qualifying, the KTM rider had made it clear that he was prepared to push to the limit for a good result. Acosta crashed in Q2. He had discussed his approach with his team beforehand. “I told my lads that we need to take a few risks to achieve good results. And that’s what we’re doing.”

Fourth place in the Sprint shows that the risk paid off, at least on Saturday. At the same time, Acosta still sees room for improvement: fewer mistakes of his own and a better start could give him the chance to further close the gap to the front-runners in Sunday’s Grand Prix.