MotoGP | Acosta: “The fight with Marc was like losing your virginity”

He had all eyes on him, a lot of pressure on himself and expectations to meet: Pedro Acosta didn't let himself be intimidated by all this and played his first weekend in MotoGP as if he were a veteran. After demonstrating his talent in the Sprint, in Lusail he confirmed that he was particularly at ease with the GasGas team's KTM in Sunday's race.

The eighth position achieved at the checkered flag is certainly significant, if you consider the fact that it was the first long race in MotoGP. But Acosta wanted to do even more and engaged in battles that even made him dream of a podium on his debut in the premier class. Some mistakes inevitably came in the second half of the race, where it was necessary to play with strategy to manage the tyre, but the Spaniard thinks it's all experience gained on the field: “It's better to do ten laps like this and then fall back than to be fifth the whole race. We have to be more than happy, we need to manage a little better, but it's all experience.”

“We had to make some mistakes, everything was too good that it couldn't have gone so well in the first race,” explained Acosta in the usual meeting with journalists after the race. “The start was better than yesterday, but not as good as Miller's. At the first corner I was fourth, I liked all the overtaking, because they were the first I'd done in MotoGP. I haven't seen myself with so much confidence in overtaking since I was in Moto3. And to think that in Moto2 I overtook more or less where I wanted. But I hadn't had the confidence to dive in and know that the bike would stop for years. The error was a management one.”

As if the Lusail track wasn't lit up enough by the headlights, Acosta shone even brighter today, showing himself without hesitation with Marc Marquez, with whom he battled for fourth position. In the end it was the representative of the Gresini team who prevailed, but it is a duel that will hardly be forgotten. Not even Acosta will forget it, who offers a bizarre but fitting comparison in this regard: “The fight with Marc lasted what it should have lasted. It's like when you lose your virginity: it's all very nice but it ends up being a disaster. The fairytale couldn't last too long, overtaking riders, having pace and staying there is what I liked most.”

In the last part of the race the difficulties emerged rookie, which began to fall from fourth to eighth place. The riding position seemed strange and he seemed to have a physical problem, but Acosta explained why: “You have to change the rear lowering lever on the bike, because it's very far for my arm and hand. I didn't have compartment syndrome, but it bothered me a lot.”