Pedro Acosta explains “difficult to accept” second Motegi MotoGP crash
Tech3 rookie suffers double DNF from pole in Japan
Pedro Acosta says his crash out of second in the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix is “difficult to accept” as he notched up a double DNF from pole at Motegi.
The 20-year-old celebrated his first pole in MotoGP on Saturday when he topped the Q2 session following a late lap cancellation for Marc Marquez.
Acosta looked on course to convert that into a first sprint win having led for much of the half-distance race on Saturday before crashing out at Turn 7.
Running second in the grand prix, Acosta looked like potentially being eventual winner Francesco Bagnaia’s biggest threat until he fell at Turn 14 at the end of lap three.
Explaining what happened, Acosta said: “Well, I was just trying to prepare the way onto the main straight a little bit better because I was struggling a bit to be closer to Pecco to try an overtake.
“But anyway, it was a mistake from my side.
“For this, it’s difficult to say something. It’s true that it was super, super close. Let’s try again in Australia.
“For me, the feeling was really similar to yesterday. It’s difficult to accept the crash. Let’s try again in Australia because we are getting closer.”
A glum Acosta still took the positives from his pace at Motegi, which is a continuation from the upturn in form he has shown since the San Marino GP weekend.
“Well, feeling great this weekend,” he added.
“Australia is normally a track we are quite fast. We can see [what] Brad [did] last season for this.
“Let’s see how the asphalt is there and how the tyres are, because that’s going to be the question mark.”
Tech3 team manager Nicolas Goyon echoed Acosta’s sentiments, but also believes this experience will make the rookie “stronger”.
“We really felt we had everything in our hands to have one of our best weekends of the season,” he said.
“Pedro was happy with the bike and the way everything was working so the DNF today was tough, especially when fighting at the front.
“We have to learn from our mistakes and I’m sure this will make him a stronger rider.”
