Seventeenth at the end of a difficult Motegi GP marked by an exit into the gravel on lap 19, Pedro Acosta revealed that even before the lights came on he sensed he would struggle in spite of a good third place he had clawed out in the Sprint thanks to the soft tyre.
“I knew it would be a tough race with the tyre but I did not expect it to be that tough! I tried to pass for the lead in Turns 3 and 5 but couldn’t and then when I saw the rhythm I thought ‘OK, do your race and save the tyre’. I wasn’t pushing, which is hard for me!” was his examination picked up by the Crashnet website. Soon sucked in by his direct rivals, the KTM rider was then a protagonist in the episode at turn 17 that affected the outcome of his race. "I don't know if the pads opened or whatever but it was strange to explain. I ran wide, I imagine it was for movement or whatever," he added.
Convinced that he could do well immediately in Asia, the Shark had to face a far more bitter reality. “We were coming from a really good European season that was not super-hot. Here the tyre gets high temperature and was softer compared to the tyre that we normally use. I think we believed we could come to a better moment than what was real. And it’s a shock for everyone, but we have to be positive. I was fast in qualifying. I was fast yesterday in the Sprint with less laps. Today we went in a hole that was impossible to get out of” he acknowledged.
Also disappointed was the other factory team rider Brad Binder, who was 12th at the checkered flag. "I had a really good start, but we had a lot of chatter from the beginning which made it difficult to ride the bike. The wheelspin when we were upright also finished the tyre. I think there is a lot of work to be done because we can't get the tyres to work properly," he remarked.
A frustration also shared by boss Aki Ajo. "We knew we could have a tyre wear challenge in Motegi but it was worse than we anticipated even with the harder option. It was tough to accept, especially when we were in a position at the start of the race to be on the podium. We'll have to analyze why in these grip conditions and on this track we struggled. However, we will reset and go again at Mandalika," he concluded.