Pedro Acosta analyses Marc Marquez crash after their thrilling scrap

Pedro Acosta secured his best finish in MotoGP after claiming second place behind Maverick Vinales at COTA.

Acosta, who took the lead off the start line, led for several laps before engaging in a battle with Jorge Martin.

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The rookie then engaged in another battle with Marc Marquez, although it’s a fight that ended very quickly when Marquez crashed out a few corners later.

“You cannot imagine how much I enjoyed it,” said Acosta. “From the days in Moto3 I never really enjoyed it like that. The overtakes, the sliding, the touches - it was a super nice race until Maverick [Vinales] passed me.

“Then he went like a rocket. Anyway, super happy about the weekend and about how the team worked.

“This morning we tried the medium rear and we were not really sure about that. Also, yesterday the soft one was not really good and seeing how these guys believed in me, and to also believe more than me was completely awesome.

“Super grateful to be in this team and working with these amazing people. Super grateful to Pierer mobility to help me like that.

“They are pushing like hell. I’m more than happy to be in this family.”

After struggling with grip late on in the sprint, Acosta was keen to avoid such issues as he conserved as much tyres as possible.

But while that battles heated up in the process, Acosta said leading a grand prix for the first time didn’t add more pressure.

“It was more or less the same,” said the GASGAS Tech 3 KTM rider. “I was trying to control myself to not destroy the tyres. 

“Yesterday, we suffered a bit when Jorge passed me. I was trying to not have any overheating on the rear or doing any crazy things. 

“Everything you do in the beginning pays off in the end. I was trying to be calm and not do anything crazy.”

Discussing his battle with Marquez, Acosta believes he knows why the eight-time world champion crashed out.

“Super nice the pass he made,” began Acosta. “It was nice. I think he crashed because in this part there were some wet patches the whole weekend.

“He was quite in the left [side], but anyway, it was super nice to battle with the boys and with Marc. I am learning a lot from him. He is super talented.”