Pedro Acosta on KTM MotoGP chain issue: ‘These things shouldn’t happen’

KTM MotoGP rider Pedro Acosta says the chain problem that took him out of the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix “shouldn’t happen”.

The Austrian manufacturer was expected to have a strong Misano weekend having shown good pace at the Italian venue in recent years.

But the high grip from the asphalt saw all of its riders struggle with the rear tyre pushing the front under braking, with Pedro Acosta emerging as the brand’s most competitive runner.

Finishing fifth in the sprint, Acosta was on for a fourth-place in the grand prix when he was forced to park up on lap eight of 27 due to a mechanical issue.

Replay footage showed his chain broke off under acceleration out of Turn 6, with Acosta flashing his bike a middle finger in frustration as he trudged away.

Commenting on his retirement, he said: “Disappointed that this happened on a Sunday.

“Really frustrated that we came from a really hard weekend and it looks like we were the only KTM improving during the weekend.

“It was tough to see that from a problem out of our hands destroyed our race.

“But it’s a mechanical sport. These things should not, but can happen. For this, let’s try not to think about it. Let’s move on to Japan and keep going.”

Acosta’s was the third KTM chain problem to materialise during the Misano weekend.

Team-mate Brad Binder suffered two failures during the event, with one on Saturday stopping him from using his preferred bike in the sprint.

The bike he was forced to use had been experiencing issues all weekend and he would retire from the sprint due to an engine problem.

KTM hasn’t confirmed what caused the repeated chain issues on its RC16s at Misano.