Young rookie Pedro Acosta was the only KTM rider to enter directly into Q2 of the MotoGP Spanish Grand Prix. A new notch on the belt for the Spaniard, who continues to surprise with every step he takes in his first year in the premier class.
“FP1 is the most complicated session of the weekend and this time we passed it well. In the afternoon we made some small changes that improved the bike. We worked on the pace and thinking about the race so as not to have the stress we had on the grid in the Austin race. Overall it went well and I think everyone will go more or less the same way,” he said in reference to the tire choice for Sunday.
In addition to being the only Austrian manufacturer driver to enter directly into Q2, he was the only one not to crash in the afternoon session, which instead happened to the more experienced Dani Pedrosa, Jack Miller and, finally, Brad Binder.
“Binder would have made it into Q2 if he hadn't crashed, for sure. I think we're doing a good job, we're taking things calmly and without rushing, which killed me in my first year in Moto2, when I was in a hurry to win. We're improving the bike little by little, here we changed the seat foam again, the handlebar opening: we are still adapting the bike to what we want and we will get there little by little.”
In his last outing, Acosta tried to take Pecco Bagnaia's wheel, but Marco Bezzecchi got in the way and perhaps blocked him slightly.
“Everyone must know how to play their cards, sometimes those who have the 'joker' have an advantage. In the end Bezzecchi covered me a bit, but nothing would have changed. I think I need to improve my riding a little more to be more fast tomorrow,” he explained.
Pedro Acosta, Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
One of the tense moments of the tests was when Acosta followed Pedrosa onto the track and almost hit him.
“I didn't expect him to abort the lap, he had one available and I was convinced he would finish the lap. I didn't think he would brake, and when the guy in front closes the throttle, you keep going at three hundred and the gap closes quickly” , he said, before saying how delighted he was to see the Spanish veteran up close.
“When you go after a 'chosen one', you are enchanted to see how he leads: the finesse that Dani has is something that we haven't seen for many years. The know-how that he has internalized is something that we have to learn and get used to “, he said.
In addition to being a fast and intelligent rider on the track, Acosta proved that he is also one off the track when asked if he was more of a fan of Pedrosa or Jorge Lorenzo when he was young. “Aaaaah, I was very little, when I started looking at bikes there was Valentino Rossi on the Ducati, Lorenzo at his peak on the Yamaha, Casey Stoner on the Honda, I was too young to choose between one or the other”, he disposed of the matter.
What is clear is the difference in style, while Acosta sticks his entire body out of the bike, Dani doesn't even move. “You have to take into account how small Dani is. If you look at the position of his arms, it's not that different, the fact is that mine are much longer. He also has a more forward head, which I would like to do too, We're working to refine our style.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, pole and Sprint for the Spanish GP in Jerez are at stake. “We'll wait to see how the day goes, rain is expected. In Qatar we didn't do badly in the wet, but we'll have to see how we go here,” said the “Shark of Mazarrón”.
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