It was a particular MotoGP Sprint, given the many crashes, but rookie Pedro Acosta was one of the “survivors” and finished in second place. Another podium (the first in a sprint race) for the GASGAS Tech3 team rider, who also finds himself occupying second position in the general classification. Who would have ever imagined such a beginning? It will be interesting to see how he performs in the long race on Sunday.
MotoGP Jerez, Acosta smiles after the Sprint
Complicated track conditions, however the two-time world champion managed to stay on his RC16. He spoke about it on Sky Sport MotoGP: “Hard to say anything. In turns 5, 8 and 9 there was a bit of humidity. At 8 and 9 you could see it, but at 5 it was more difficult to see it. When I went wide after overtaking Binder, I was close to crashing due to this humidity. It was difficult to understand“.
The podium is a great satisfaction, even if it came with the awareness that several rivals fell and paved the way for him: “I certainly liked how we handled a bad qualifying – explains – and it was a beautiful thing. We made a good start, on the first lap I overtook Morbidelli and Di Giannantonio. We are coming. Sprint is not my specialty, because with low fuel I lack a bit of feeling compared to when I have the heavier bike in the long race. I’ll try to improve“.
Usually, when a harder tire can be used, it performs better than what is seen in sprints. Could he be more competitive against Marquez and Martin tomorrow with the average? He responds like this: “Let’s see… Today there was a strange situation, with a somewhat mixed track. For us it’s about gaining experience to arrive at the race better prepared, I’m more used to a normal race with more fuel, a harder tire and a different setting. We’ll see what we can do“.
Photo: MotoGP
