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Pedro Acosta faced the first sprint after the summer break at Silverstone with an added level of difficulty. Starting 9th on the grid, the Spaniard was immediately involved in a contact with brand mate Binder, a contact that broke a wing complicating his life in no small way. Acosta will say that "it took me a couple of laps to get used to it," and those overtakes and that fifth place at the end of ten laps testify that the enfant prodige seems to have regained that polish shown in the early stages of the championship. The subject then shifted to the attitude of some riders in qualifying, often waiting in the slipstream behind faster riders. A "ridiculous" show Bagnaia called it, and the Spaniard agreed, placing the emphasis especially on the danger and the risk of emulation by younger riders.
"It was not bad despite what happened in the first laps - explained Acosta - it took me a couple of laps to get used to riding without one of the aerodynamic appendages. That lost me some time behind Marc and Brad but then I was able to catch up before Marc crashed. That was the first race where things started to go right again. The weekend started well and in the race we started to make overtakes again like we did at the beginning of the season. I am satisfied that I was able to stay behind the leading group."
The Spaniard then continued on the contact with Binder's KTM.
"I understand if we were fighting for a win or a world championship, but in the current situation we have to try not to also get in each other's way at the beginning of the race."
Riding the KTM without a wing was an added difficulty for the Spanish rookie, who then went into detail as he nonchalantly dabbed at the bleeding calluses on his left hand.
"Imagine flying a plane with only one wing," the Spaniard jokingly continued, "the feeling is that and the plane would obviously tilt to one side. The biggest problem was that during wheelies my steering would turn. In the right-hand turns it was very easy to risk losing the front and in general the bike was difficult to keep at bay."
Bagnaia harshly criticized some riders' pursuit of the slipstream during qualifying. What could be the solution?
"I agree, but as for the solution ... I remember when in 2021 I started from the pitlane," he replied sarcastically, "and it was the first time, it was not a warning. On the other hand how you wait on the track you would do it in the pitlane. I understand stopping at the edge of the track, but the real problem is those who stop in the middle when they realize they have thrown away their own lap and by doing so they also ruin someone else's lap, and that is not correct. We are not stupid, and yet it has happened in many races. In Moto 3 Esteban had to start from the pit lane. For me the fundamental thing is that when you go in to do your lap you should not ruin the lap for others, there are points where maybe the track is wider, but we are very fast and not knowing what the rider in front is doing often makes you lose time. To make a comparison, it's like a young rider in the Junior cup entering the track with an adult, and we're racing at over 300 kmh. It's like putting a wall in the middle of the track, but that wall comes up fast when you're lapping at 300 kmh. Also about what happened today with Marc behind Bastianini, there was more asphalt but you can't stop between the two trajectories. I repeat, it can happen that you have to stop, but every movement of another rider can determine whether we are faster or not."
Do you think this is a deliberate attitude?
"There is a reason for everything. Why do you think we have these wings on the bike now, because they look nice? They are there because of a performance issue. You know when they put aerodynamics in Formula 1 and they put airflow disruptors for those behind? It's the same argument. Then it is clear, we all make mistakes, once or twice I can understand it, we are human and we make mistakes. It can happen that you don't realize that you have someone behind. When it becomes a habit, however, it can become dangerous. Not only for us, but also for young riders in the lower categories. If you are fast enough to be able to win, it doesn't matter if you start first or fifth, the important thing is that this issue doesn't become a tradition."
