It was a disappointing Saturday at Assen for Pedro Acosta. The Spaniard had to deal with problems with his KTM in qualifying, and then found himself playing catch-up in the Sprint. In the end, he finished ninth.
For the Spaniard, this result is hardly worth mentioning, given the many limitations he had to contend with.
For his part, Acosta is well aware of the situation and doesn’t mince words in pointing the finger at the Austrian manufacturer for the mistakes made.
“It wasn’t easy at all this morning in qualifying,” he said. “I didn’t go into the Sprint race prepared because I’d only done 10 laps. Then you go out on the track with the same bike as the day before and go half a second faster. It’s hard to be ready for a race under these conditions.”
Is the problem completely resolved now?
“Who knows?... The only thing I can do is believe that it is.”
Was it the same problem you had yesterday?
“No, no, this is new. Every day brings a surprise.”
How are you handling this situation?
“You have to trust what you’re doing, but they have to check everything. For today’s first problem, I remember perfectly well that I had turned off the throttle properly, but it stayed open. When there’s a safety issue, it’s a completely different story. They have to be careful.”
How much did this affect your race?
“A lot. When you’re basically doing nothing all day and then go into the race on the same bike as the day before, it’s pretty easy to make mistakes, like I did. It’s also hard to keep up with the other riders, but above all, we weren’t prepared.”
How do you assess the starts without the front device?
“I think they’re even more dangerous now than before. It’s pretty easy to make mistakes, and it’s easy to find yourself in the middle of the pack in complicated situations. They need to decide whether to continue without it or put the front device back on, because in my opinion, the situation is more dangerous now than before.”
Your comeback from fifteenth to ninth place was still impressive, though.
“My pace was good enough to stay with Marc, Pecco, and the other riders. But, as I said, there were too many problems, and we weren’t prepared for the race.”
At one point, it looked like you might be able to attack Marc. What happened?
“I was fast, but unfortunately I made a mistake at that moment.”
Do you think you can fight for a top-five finish tomorrow?
“Right now we’re pretty far off. First of all, we need to make sure everything works for the entire race, then we’ll see. I think that with a good start and a good first lap, like I was doing today, everything would be much easier. However, as I said, we need to prepare for the race during the warm-up. We’re already behind this week and need to catch up.”
Have you received any apologies from KTM for these issues?
“Apologies wouldn’t solve anything.”
Could they at least help?
“No. When the problem exists and keeps coming back, apologies don’t change anything. I need the problem to be fixed and for it not to happen again. That’s what I need.”