Pedro Acosta: KTM upgrades “exactly what we needed” but "Ducati will wake up"

Pedro Acosta says KTM’s long-awaited fairing update delivered immediate benefits as he powered to second place on the Friday practice timesheets at the manufacturer’s home Austrian MotoGP.

Acosta, who ended KTM’s podium drought with third place in Brno just before the summer break, was fastest at several points during the hour-long session.

A tow from MotoGP title leader Marc Marquez helped put the young Spaniard back on top in the closing stages, before the factory Ducati title leader responded to end the day 0.228s ahead.

Acosta revealed he had been pushing for the new Ducati-style upper fairing since testing it at Aragon earlier in the season.

“I tried [the fairing] already in the Aragon test and I was pushing the last four races like they should bring it, because it was super great, and [better in] exactly in the point that we needed,” Acosta told MotoGP.com.

“But sometimes when you want to make the correct things it takes some time. For this we have to be happy. It took some time, but now it’s here.”

The redesigned bodywork is understood to aid the RC16’s turning performance while also helping to preserve tyre life, two key areas KTM has been looking to improve.

Despite his strong start, Acosta warned that Ducati is likely to raise the bar on Saturday.

“Normally, we struggle a lot to do a fast lap and today we were not. It’s also true that we have a strong pace,” he said.

“But no expectation for tomorrow. Normally, the Ducatis wake up on Saturdays. For this, let’s see what is going on.

“First of all, we need to make a good qualifying. And then we can think about targets.”

Team-mate Brad Binder was the next-best KTM in tenth, 0.728s off Marquez, securing the final direct slot into Qualifying 2.