Pedro Acosta has admitted that crashing out of the Motegi MotoGP sprint race whilst leading was a “stupid mistake” but the Tech3 GasGas star intends to take the positives out of the experience.
The 20-year-old Spanish rookie, who had qualified on pole for the first time on Saturday morning, had lost the lead at the start before regaining it from Ducati Francesco Bagnaia.
But with only three laps to run, he threw away his chance of a breakthrough victory when he lost the front end at Turn 5.
“It was a stupid mistake on my part,” said Acosta. “I was a little bit off line… I came in a little more open and with a little more angle. Just a stupid mistake.
“This one hurts, but wrapped up in all the pain there are also positives. You have to see those positives as well as the negatives.
“I don't make excuses; I look for solutions. So, we crashed but we were competitive today.
“We have to take the positive that I was fast today. We need to be happy that we have been fighting with these top four or five riders over the last few races, and that we know how we can improve.”
Although he had pulled out a visible gap from Bagnaia just before the accident, Acosta said he wasn’t trying to push in that right-hander.
“I was just flowing, not trying to do anything different,” he said. “I was only trying to push in the areas where I was feeling comfortable: Turn 1, Turn 2 and Turn 4.
“But even before the race and before the crash, I was sliding in Turn 5. I was losing time there, but I wasn’t out of control.”
Bagnaia’s recollection of the moment backs up Acosta’s assessment that he wasn’t trying to stretch the lead excessively. The reigning world champion suggested he was actually the one responsible for the gap that had appeared between the two riders just before Acosta fell.
“I think the front pressure was a bit too high,” explained Bagnaia. “Maybe because we started with a ‘safe’ pressure due to the [drizzly] conditions. So I struggled a bit when I was behind Pedro.
“As soon as I rolled off a bit to let the front tyre cool, he crashed. I don’t know what order we would have finished in, but I think he was doing a very good job.”
While this was by no means Acosta’s first crash of his debut MotoGP season, he was closer to a breakthrough win than ever when this one happened.
“I’ve said before that I can win,” he reflected. “But then I’ve crashed out, like happened at Le Mans and like happened at Barcelona. But I never crashed out of the lead until now.
“Every time I qualify on pole, I crash out,” he joked.
