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MotoGP, Acosta: "The accident with Augusto Fernandez? It was nobody's fault."

"You shouldn't crash at 10 a.m. on the first flying lap, but it happens. We didn't do anything strange or wrong. It was a combination of factors. Survival Sprint? The tires will be the variable."

MotoGP: Acosta:

Despite being involved in a fall with Augusto Fernandez at the start of FP1, and another one in the afternoon, Pedro Acosta can look at a half-full glass at the end of the first day of action in this last MotoGP round. The two-time world champion managed to directly access the Q2 in the Barcelona FP2, with a 9th fastest time. However, his performance wasn't enough to divert attention from the contact that occurred with his teammate (video of the episode HERE).

"The whole world is asking me about it today, so I'll try to be clear and quick. Everything that could've happened in a situation like this, happened: I almost hit Brad from behind, and he almost did the same to me. We went wide, crossed paths, and what happened happened. We're fine, and that's it. Let's forget what happened," Pedro commented, trying to downplay the situation.

"The fact is that it was nobody's fault," he added. "None of us did anything strange or wrong. It was a combination of factors. I couldn't get past Brad, who was ahead of m,e and Augusto couldn't get past me. I went wide and it happened. What did they tell us? Nothing."

Prompted by questions about the accident, the Red Bull GasGas Tech3 team rider then concluded his analysis by commenting on the fact that the accident occurred at a fairly dangerous spot on the track, given the proximity of the wall.

"It wasn't so much the fact that the wall is close, as it was that you can't fall on the first flying lap, at ten in the morning," he remarked, laughing. "But these things happen, and I don't think there's anything to learn from what happened. Let's turn the page."

Looking at the results on the track, the 20-year-old can say he's quite satisfied with his pace but not totally convinced about his sensation with the tires and the Catalan track.

"It's hard to say anything about the tires, because we have so many compounds for the front, and I only tried two. As for grip, it's complicated to say anything about that, because it's the same crap we found when we were here in May," he admitted, without mincing words. "The problem is that it's even easier now to lose the front. The lap time wasn't faster, the speed wasn't higher, and the bike was moving more, so it's hard to say anything positive about the grip. In any case, I'm happy, because my pace was quite good. It's true that I struggled in the time attack, but this is an area where we need to improve, because it was always like that on Fridays."

Despite having shown good potential in May at Montmeló, Acosta doesn't want to get out of line about his chances of fighting for the victory in this last race of the season.

"It's complicated. In the end, we'll have to see what the choice will be in terms of the front tire, which is the most critical aspect here in cold weather," he explained. "We'll have to see what the pace iss going to be. We'll see how qualifying goes tomorrow, which is what makes the difference."

With only ten laps left to get the tires up to temperature, will it be tough to stay on the bike in the Sprint?

"The grip here is the worst on the calendar, but it's the same as it was in May. That's why it won't be a matter of survival," Pedro commented. "Don't get me wrong. It's going to be difficult to warm up the tires in the first few laps, but the unknown factor is the tire we'll use, because we already have work to do when there are three front tires and two rear tires, imagine now with four in front and three in back.

Going into more detail about the grip  on he Barcelona track, El Tiburon de Mazarrón said he did not notice any particular changes in the behavior of his RC16 between the morning and afternoon sessions.

"The only difference is that the asphalt was more rubberized, and we did more laps. It seems that the more Michelin rubber there is on the asphalt, the better these tires work. Having this grip if another class is racing before us with different tires isn't possible. That's why we usually struggle in the morning or in the first part of the session," he said. "Is it the asphalt that creates grip problems? Yes. There are no bumps, patches or cracks, but we have no grip. It's quite strange, also because the track was resurfaced not so long ago. And then there are tracks like Japan, where the asphalt has been there for years, where there are no bumps or strange things, however there's grip there. That's why it's kind of strange to analyze the situation but, for me, it's the same thing."

Acosta then concluded with a comment on today's performance of the world championship leader, Jorge Martin: "I don't know who's more nervous, him or Bagnaia. Jorge now has to play this game. He finished fifth at two tenths, and I'd pay not to be ninth today. It won't be complicated for him."

 

Translated by Leila Myftija

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