Pedro Acosta celebrated a successful weekend in the MotoGP, achieving his first double points finish since Mandalika, thanks to a combination of circumstances including Brad Binder’s non-start. The GASGAS Tech3 rookie climbed from 13th to finish 5th, positioning him 5th overall in the championship standings.
Acosta’s race took a tense turn as he battled with tire temperature issues while chasing down Alex Marquez. “I lost a lot of time overtaking Maverick, Fabio, and Rins,” he explained. “Then, when I was catching Alex, the front tire temperature soared, making it tough to manage.”
With just five laps remaining, Acosta lost the front at the final hairpin. “I thought, ‘F**k, OK, let’s not put the race in the bin for nothing,’” he admitted, underscoring the importance of finishing the race safely.
He concluded the race 1.4 seconds behind Marquez on the Gresini Ducati. “Don’t get me wrong; I was pushing for that fourth position. However, what I hadn’t recovered in 15 laps wasn’t going to happen in just one lap,” Acosta noted.
Reflecting on the season, Acosta acknowledged the need for a more strategic approach, especially considering his previous crashes that resulted in lost points. “It was necessary for me and for the team—maybe less is more as the season progresses. Just look at how many points I’ve lost in races where I crashed. It’s a lot.”
This season, Acosta has experienced 12 non-scores and has the highest fall count among riders with 26 accidents. He stated, “If I had managed to finish in 5th place at every track where I crashed, I’d have accumulated a significant amount of points by now.”
The young rider emphasized the importance of managing pressure, saying, “When you ride without pressure, you go flat out, but sometimes you need to slow down a bit.”
Acosta also took the opportunity to gather crucial data on KTM’s aerodynamics. “It was essential to see the difference between the fairing we used in the sprint and the one we raced today,” he explained. “Understanding why one fairing performs better than the other can be tricky. However, the investigation into this is going really well.”
As he heads into the final race in Barcelona, Acosta carries a narrow 3-point lead over future teammate Binder. Who withdrew from the Sepang restart due to a shoulder injury sustained in the red-flagged pile-up at Turn 2. Both riders are competing to be the top non-Ducati contender in the championship standings.
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