MotoGP rookie star Pedro Acosta has no intention of hiding behind the fact that he’s not on a Ducati following a Japanese Grand Prix weekend on which the KTM rider was quicker than ever but fell twice.
Acosta is enjoying a late-season run of form, seizing his first MotoGP pole on Saturday at Motegi. But he tried a fraction too hard in pursuit of a breakthrough win, crashing out of the lead in the sprint race and then falling whilst a close second to Francesco Bagnaia in the grand prix.
The Tech 3 rider’s performance in Japan cements his reputation as the only rider able to challenge the dominant Ducatis for victory at this stage of the year. And he is determined to maintain that despite the two setbacks in the races over the weekend.
“I’m not going to accept that the Ducati is better than the KTM, even if that leads to me crashing some more times,” he said.
“We know that we’re not at Ducati’s level at the moment. But we saw that it’s not impossible to get there and that they’re not untouchable. We’ve seen that we can fight with them.”
Acosta did acknowledge that his approach has a devil-may-care aspect to it, but given the distant sixth place he currently occupies in the championship, he considers any risks justified when racing against the likes of Bagnaia or Jorge Martin, who are fighting for the world title.
“There is little chance of beating the Ducati. There are times in life when you have to gamble. And even more so when Pecco [Bagnaia] is in front. He’s not going to risk it, but I am," the Spaniard said.
Acosta did not make any excuses for his mistakes in the races, labelling Sunday's crash as “stupid” in much the same vein as he did Saturday’s. Nor did he try to deny the emotional rollercoaster he experienced in Japan.
“In one way it was the saddest weekend of my career, and in another it was the one where I had the best feeling," he said.
“It’s the weekend on which I’ve been most competitive, but also the one on which I’ve created the most trouble.”
There was some support for Acosta’s heroics from the wider KTM stable in Japan, with factory rider Brand Binder fastest in practice on Friday before qualifying fifth. The South African fell in the sprint but finished the grand prix as leading non-Ducati in sixth.
Jack Miller had a harder weekend on the other factory bike, qualifying 14th. But the Aussie did shine early in the grand prix before finishing 10th.
“It’s important for the factory [to have more KTMs at the front]," said Acosta. "Like this we can have more information, and that’s going to be important for us at the next couple of grands prix.
“When the gaps are too big [to other KTM riders], it’s difficult to compare sometimes and come up with things to try, because the lap times are quite different.”
