Ducati achieved its tenth consecutive sprint-race double at Motegi, but never has Pedro Acosta been so close to ending this streak. For the fifth weekend in a row, the Spaniard was among the leaders, performances that took him to third place at the Aragón GP and second in Indonesia, but also to make some mistakes, with falls in the two Misano races.
In Japan, he took his first pole position in MotoGP, unheard of for a KTM in almost four years, and only the fourth for a rider without a Ducati this year. During the sprint, however, he fell while victory was in his arms and this Sunday, he ceded the lead to Pecco Bagnaia at the start before ending up on the ground once again, on the fourth lap. Left with a loop behind, he gave up after a few laps.
“Another mistake”summarized Acosta, who admitted having done too much to try to regain the advantage over Bagnaia: “I was close to him, I was trying to prepare for turn 5 because that’s where I saw I could really overtake him. I was just trying to prepare for an overtake.”
“Maybe I over-prepared it, maybe I turned in early and hit the gas early, […] then I lost the front. I think it can happen, you have to accept it. We’re getting closer and even with today’s fall, there’s a lot of positive.”
VIDEO – The summary of the Japanese Grand Prix
“We must focus on the big goals and, if they are not possible, on the small ones”added the Tech 3 driver. “I just wanted to perform well and be in front today. That’s why I came out.”
Following his only pole in Moto3 and his first in Moto2, Pedro Acosta also ended the next day’s races with crashes. A bad habit that he takes with a certain bitterness since he would naturally have preferred to take advantage of the impressive potential displayed at Motegi: “It’s the saddest weekend of my career, and the one where I had the best rhythm. It’s painful.”
“For sure it was the weekend where I performed the best, and the saddest weekend”he lamented. “Also the weekend where I was closest to the Ducati and the most comfortable. We know that currently, we are not at the level of Ducati but we saw that it is not impossible to reach this level, they are not untouchable. We must understand that everything goes through a process. Even in their days without, they remain efficient.
