Pedro Acosta 3rd: “A big step compared to Jerez”

Pedro Acosta delivered an impressive response to a tough Sunday at Jerez by being a persistent frontrunner during Friday practice at Tech3’s home Le Mans MotoGP round.

The teenage rookie, fourth and top KTM in the world championship, began the day second only Jorge Martin in opening practice.

Acosta then sailed safely through to Qualifying 2 with third place in the afternoon, behind only title leader Martin and reigning champion Francesco Bagnaia.

"Normally, Friday morning is a bit more difficult for us because we have to start from somewhere of course, but today was somehow a bit easier for us,” Acosta said.

“Yesterday, I was saying that Le Mans is a good track for us, even if I never had great results here, but I enjoy riding in France.

“I think that we made a big step compared to Jerez, the feeling is much better, we made some improvements with the electronics, so we are really happy with how the day went, and we will look to continue progressing tomorrow."

Jack Miller was the next best KTM rider, in sixth, with Acosta’s team-mate Augusto Fernandez in 16th, just ahead of Brad Binder (who crashed three times).

Fernandez was 0.855s from Martin, at a track where he took his best MotoGP result of fourth place a year ago. Fernandez revealed he has made the bike shorter, but it is costing him time in the braking zones.

"Coming from the Jerez Test, we had a new plan with a different bike setup, so today was about putting this plan into action, and issues are not going to be solved in one session, especially because we are coming from a difficult situation,” Fernandez said.

“We need more laps, but the feeling has been much better than the last rounds today, and I am feeling happy with the work. The bike is a bit shorter now, so we need to improve in the braking, adapt to its reactivity, but we are working on it and hopefully we will start feeling a lot better."