Pedro Acosta slams “not necessary” Marc Marquez Barcelona MotoGP sprint clash
“He went in like in a normal lap”
Pedro Acosta says Marc Marquez’s attempt to overtake him in the MotoGP Solidarity Grand Prix sprint that resulted in race-ending contact was “not necessary”.
The Tech3 rider had got as high as fourth in the opening two corners when he and Marquez came together going through Turn 3 of Saturday’s 12-lap sprint.
Acosta was on the inside, with Marquez carrying more speed on the outside, when contact was made and the front of the Tech3 GASGAS’ fairing was ripped off.
This forced Acosta to retire at the end of the opening lap, marking his 13th non-score of his rookie season.
When asked about it on Saturday evening by the media - including Crash.net - Acosta was critical of Marquez’s approach.
“Frustrating two corners,” Acosta said.
“We don’t even start the race. Difficult to say something about the race.
“Again, another weekend we were making a good job and we were feeling quite competitive, that we were in the rhythm and in the pace.
“And for outside reasons, we finished with another zero. It is what it is.
“I don’t see anyone until Marc hit me. I was full in the right inside and he went in like in a normal lap and I was in the middle.
“He go in like if no one was there. I will not say if it was his fault or not, but it was the third corner, it was the first lap. It was not necessary to go in like this. It is what it is, that’s it. Racing is racing.”
Acosta refuted the theory that this incident was a result of there being two lines to take from Turn 2 into Turn 3, and likened it to Alex Marquez’s controversial tangle with Francesco Bagnaia at Aragon.
“I don’t think so, because I was really in front,” he added.
“Even in corner two Marc was behind me, [Franco] Morbidelli also.
“Ok, he was able to carry more speed. But anyway, I was there. Ok, he carried more speed, he overtook me and when he started to close the line I hit like this.
“I was here [fully leant over], I was not able to see what was outside. It was a similar thing as Alex and Pecco in Aragon. In the end, I was in front.”
Acosta was the only competitive KTM on Saturday at Barcelona, qualifying sixth while the next-best RC16 was Brad Binder in 18th. As such, he felt the sprint could have offered him a top result.
“Many things were possible, this is clear,” he said.
“We were making a really good pace in FP2, even with the medium rear we were quite comfortable to make a good race and good pace.
“I was a little bit more scared about the hard front, but after warming up, two laps, was quite ok. That’s it.”
The stewards took no action on the incident, with Marquez seventh in the 12-lap sprint.
He told the media he was “fighting against the circuit” and that sixth was the maximum he could have hoped for on his Gresini-run GP23 had he not made contact with Acosta on lap one.
Marquez also confirmed he suffered no damage in the collision.
