“We are getting closer to the objective we are aiming for”

Pedro Acosta certainly benefited from Marc Márquez’s canceled time to take his first MotoGP pole at Motegi, but the performance remains remarkable. At 20 years and 133 days, the Spaniard became the third youngest pole-sitter in the history of the category, behind Fabio Quartararo (20 years and 14 days) and Márquez (20 years and 63 days), and won what is only KTM’s fourth pole, the first since Portimão 2020.

This 11th pole for Tech3 in the premier category crowns a very good period for Acosta, on the podium in Aragón and in Indonesia, and who also had the pace for the first places in the two races in Misano, concluded with falls. It also comes on the day when he is mathematically guaranteed to be named best rookie of the season, which was only a formality since he was the only one this year.

“It’s really nice”commented Acosta as he got off his motorcycle in the parc ferme. “It’s been a long time since I saw #1 in front of my bike. We have to be satisfied because we see that for four or five races, we’ve been able to put everything together better and we’re more efficient each time. I’m happy because we are getting closer to the objective we are aiming for. We must be happy and calm for this afternoon.”

“A good chance” for Bagnaia

This pole looks even more like an achievement as the Ducatis were all present in Q2 and represented eight of the 12 bikes lined up. There will ultimately only be one in the front line, that of Pecco Bagnaia. However, the double MotoGP champion’s qualifying got off to a bad start as he was 12th after a shortened first stint, due to bad sensations under the few drops of rain.

The Ducati rider finally took a reassuring second place, when Jorge Martín had to settle for 11th position after his fall, his worst result since the 2023 Austrian GP, ​​26 races ago. “It’s super important”a souligné Bagnaia. “At first I thought it was totally wet or starting to get wet because something was wrong with my bike. I decided to stop and when I left everything was fine again. I was able to set a very good time.”

“I missed the last lap a little, there were yellow flags. I’m still happy. We have a good chance today and tomorrow with this kind of grid and we will have to take advantage of it.”

The third driver on the front row will almost be a surprise guest, Maverick Viñales. The sole representative of Aprilia in Q2, the Spaniard was able to take advantage of the conditions to achieve a good result while the Noale manufacturer is going through a difficult period.

“I am obviously very happy and satisfied with the performance because we know very well that in theory, this is not the best track for the Aprilia”commented Viñales. “We continue to progress and I know that when I feel good, when I feel that the bike is doing what I want, I can do an incredible time, and today we did it. It was nice.”

“At the same time, it was quite strange that it rained but the track remained quite dry and we could attack at the limit. I’m really delighted, I love Japan so I always want to be on the podium. I’m going to try, I’m going to do my best, and we’ll see after the race.”