Marco Bezzecchi
Pedro Acosta has drawn some praise following the use of his genius ‘strategy’ involving Francesco Bagnaia to secure his spot in Q2 for qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix.
It was Marco Bezzecchi who claimed the top spot on the timesheets in the pre-qualifying practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix, setting a time nearly two tenths faster than his closest rival, Raul Fernandez.
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Pedro Acosta ended the first day of the proceedings in Assen with the third fastest time on the grid, having set his personal best time after Alex Marquez brought out a late red flag with less than a handful of minutes left on the clock.
At the time of his final lap, Acosta was in danger of having to go through Q1 in Saturday’s qualifying session as he sat in P8, just over six tenths adrift of Bezzecchi’s benchmark.
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Pol Espargaro praises Pedro Acosta’s genius Francesco Bagnaia ‘strategy’ at Dutch GP
During DAZN’s coverage of the pre-qualifying practice session at the Dutch Grand Prix, MotoGP pundit Pol Espargaro drew attention to something he had noticed about Acosta as the grid attempted to get a final few laps in after the red flag.
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Acosta was seen following Francesco Bagnaia, who was looking down the barrel of a Q1 appearance in the final stages of the session. He was forced to push to secure his spot, and Espargaro felt like Acosta’s choice to follow was a stroke of genius from the 22-year-old.
“Pedro was right on the limit, very fast,” he began, via Motosan. “Because he has that consistency, that spectacular talent. But he did it behind Pecco Bagnaia.
“He knew – it was a good strategy – that Pecco was out of Q2, and that he was forced to set a good lap by leading the way. Pedro had the right rider in front of him and was able to set that lap.”
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the KTM star. Espargaro, who serves as the Austrian constructor’s test rider alongside his punditry duties, revealed the problems that Acosta has been “complaining” about since getting out onto the Assen TT Circuit.
“Pedro is complaining a lot about the KTM’s stability here at Assen,” he said “This year, the KTM has undergone changes in terms of downforce; we’ve reduced the downforce quite a bit, especially at the front, to make the bike more agile.
“But on circuits like Assen, you pay a heavy price for that lack of downforce – of grip on the tarmac – because the bike becomes more unstable; it moves around a lot during those changes of direction, particularly at the rear.”
With a move to the factory Ducati team on the horizon for Acosta, his annoyances with Mattighofen are expected to subside as he gets a chance to race on what he hopes to be a race-winning bike.
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