Marco Bezzecchi
Pedro Acosta has urged KTM to find a solution to his recent bike problems, highlighting how they became a “safety issue” during the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint race.
Since touching down in Assen for this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, Pedro Acosta has been dealt a difficult hand with his KTM prototype, which has run into a multitude of issues throughout all of this weekend’s sessions so far.
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The issues have been akin to the incident that unfolded at the Catalan Grand Prix between Acosta and Alex Marquez. The Gresini rider was left with a shattered collarbone and a C7 vertebra fracture after running into the back of Acosta’s KTM after the engine died.
Several MotoGP paddock figures blasted KTM for such an issue that affected the health of another rider, and Acosta has now admitted that the problems are becoming a safety issue for himself, as well as his rivals on the grid.
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Pedro Acosta reveals his KTM bike issues are now becoming a ‘safety issue’
During the 22-year-old’s words to the media following the chequered flag in the Dutch Grand Prix Sprint, he highlighted just how “tough” a day it had been for him, putting his P9 finish down to the lack of track time he’s had so far this weekend.
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“I think it was probably the day I did the fewest laps in MotoGP,” he told journalists, via Motorsport Espana. “The sprint finish was a consequence of not doing any laps all day. What can you expect to go well when you’ve only done six valid laps all day?”
Acosta was then asked whether the multitude of problems that he’s encountered so far this weekend are related, to which he outlined how things are now becoming a safety issue.
“No, today’s problems are new,” the KTM star replied. “It’s just that both incidents were the same. And in one of them, the gas got stuck. When this starts to become a safety issue, I think it’s really time to look into it.
“It seems like today’s problem has some explanation, but I still don’t have an answer for what happened in Brno. Who’s to say it won’t happen again?”
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Following the crash involving Marquez at the Catalan Grand Prix, which was caused by Acosta’s engine cutting out, many have called for extreme measures to be taken against KTM to ensure that riders are safe to race them.
Of course, Acosta does not see this as a solution, explaining, “Yeah, but what measure do you take? Do you stop us from racing? That’s not a solution either. We should give some kind of answer, or at least have a solution.
“If it’s a sensor that trips when going over the curb, everyone goes over the curb. It can’t be that my bike is the only one that stops; there has to be more to it.”
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