Marco Bezzecchi
Pedro Acosta has expressed his dismay at the calibre of KTM’s bike at the Italian Grand Prix, highlighting how it has been ‘costing’ him and the rest of the riders within the Mattighofen-based constructor’s stable all season long.
The young Spaniard proved to be KTM’s lead rider yet again during the 11-lap Sprint in Mugello, despite finishing in the final points-paying position of the final classification.
Raul Fernandez beats Jorge Martin in the Sprint! Who impressed you the most at Mugello?
Acosta came agonisingly close to securing his first Grand Prix victory last time out at Barcelona, with tyre wear proving to be a thorn in his side as he dropped down the order in the final stages of the race.
Unfortunately, he is unlikely to have another shot at this weekend, if his performance in the Sprint is anything to go by.
Pedro Acosta recaps difficult Italian Grand Prix Sprint race
During his post-Sprint comments to DAZN at the Italian Grand Prix, Acosta didn’t hold back on his verdict for KTM following a difficult result for himself and the rest of the riders within the Austrian constructor’s stable.
The Murcian rider claimed just a single point for the constructor in the Sprint, and was asked whether this sort of result exposes the true reality of KTM’s pace in the premier class.
Is Pedro Acosta going to beat Marc Marquez at Ducati next year?
“Well, the reality has been this way, not just now, it has been this way for many years,” he responded. “So it is true that some races we can save, others we suffer more.
“Above all, it is true that since we have been going through all the years, GP in this circuit I have always had quite a few ups and downs.
“So I’m not going to say it’s just the bike, but it is true that it is generally costing all the KTMs, because Enea was also having very good races and today, when the other brands made the leap, we got a bit stuck. So we have to keep working for tomorrow, that’s it.”
Acosta was locked in a battle with Bastianini at the mid-point of the race, with a mistake from the Italian rider seeing him crash out at turn 10. The off happened after Acosta attempted an overtake on his stablemate, which saw him run wide at turn one.
“From then on, it was just one problem after another,” he added, referring to his wide moment. “It’s true that Enea was in front of me and he was having more or less the same problems as me.
“It seems the bike isn’t fast enough on the straights, it’s quite unstable, and this makes everything a bit more difficult.
“We didn’t expect the tyres to suffer so much, especially the soft one, because the idea was to race with this tyre tomorrow, but it seems those plans have changed.
Receive racing news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
