The Tech3 GasGas rider made an immediate impact on his MotoGP debut weekend, qualifying eighth and finishing in that position in the sprint, before going on to finish ninth in the grand prix.
Acosta stormed through the pack early on in Sunday’s full-distance race to get as high as fourth at one stage after overtaking six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez.
Though he set the fastest lap of the race, Acosta chewed up his medium Michelin rubber and fell back through the pack to ninth.
However, he is well aware of how he used his tyres and takes it as a positive learning lesson.
“Well, I know that the managing of the tyres was not the best,” Acosta said.
“You see in Turn 10 I was completely smoking [the rear]. But this is also nice for TV! We cannot be so serious.
“Anyway, we have to be happy to make these mistakes because now we are going to have more information for Portimao and also we are going to be more ready.
“I mean, [the race was] 22 laps and we only made one or two mistakes.
“It’s not so much. I mean, yesterday [in the sprint] in 11 laps we made much more mistakes. We need to be happy.”
Acosta added how the feeling with the front end of his GasGas-branded KTM was like nothing he had experienced before, and attributes this to how easily he was able to make his way through the field.
“Not so bad, not so bad to begin with,” he said of his debut.
“I don’t know what to say, to be honest. Many things happened in 40 minutes.
“The start was not the best but then everything was super nice. The feeling with the front was super nice.
“From my first Moto3 season, I was never able to attack like this. I mean you see how much speed I was able to carry and stop the bike in the last moment – it was completely amazing. For this, we need to be more than happy.”
Acosta’s ability to ride with the leading riders offered him a chance to gleam some details as to where he needs to improve, highlighting their race management as a key area.
“I learned a lot of things. I cannot say one,” he added.
“But in the end, I see what mentality they have. They were super smooth, were not doing any crazy things, and were not burning the tyres.
“They were riding fast. I mean, maybe I didn’t have the pace to go with them to the end but maybe I also burnt the tyres too much for this.
“Anyway, we need to improve the start and be with them from the beginning and try to be a little bit more relaxed. It was a good day, after all.”
