Pedro Acosta: ‘Sometimes you need to ride more with your head’

After a strong Shakedown test, Pedro Acosta continued to impress as he finished second to Jorge Martin on day one of the Sepang MotoGP test.

Acosta was fastest of the KTM riders and began trying several new parts for the Austrian manufacturer. 

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After using the Shakedown to continue learning how to ride a MotoGP bike, day one of the official test saw the young Spaniard tested several new parts although his focus was more on finding a good race pace.

“I was happy to try [the new parts],” began Acosta. “It was good. The best thing for me is every time we go on track we are at the same level as the day before immediately.

“Also, we are improving the pace which was quite important for me. In the second day of the Shakedown we were lapping at 2m 00s more or less, as race pace, but now we are able to be inside the 1m 59s.

“Talking about development, I’m trying new things that they want me to try. They put it on the bike and I try it. It is part of the job.

“But I was not really thinking about that. It is not my job at the moment. I have to be focused on growing every day and be focused every time I go out on the bike.”

With the full MotoGP line-up in action, Acosta used parts of day one to follow other riders in an attempt to learn.

One of those was Jack Miller and Acosta said it was valuable to have different bikes ahead of him, even if the lines changed.

“It was good to be behind Jack [Miller] and to be behind some Aprilias,” said Acosta. “It was good to understand how the wind affects you when you are behind.

“When you are behind the slipstream comes to you, so it was just to understand these things.

“But not the riding lines because I saw that between other manufacturers and the GASGAS, the lines were very different.”

‘You need to ride with your head’

One of the big challenges at Sepang for a rookie is the changes in grip, especially on used tyres as the surface becomes very hot, therefore the grip decreases.

Speaking about how to adapt to the conditions, Acosta added: “It becomes quite difficult to understand because if you are pushing even more it doesn’t mean you are going to be faster.

“If you are too aggressive the anti-wheelie kicks in, the traction control, the power.

“If you are really pushing the bike begins to shake and it is more difficult to ride because of this. Sometimes you need to ride more with your head to be as fast as before.”