Pedro Acosta breaks front row MotoGP drought: “This will make everything easier”
Pedro Acosta ended his MotoGP front-row drought by qualifying second for the Portuguese Grand Prix, between Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo.
Pedro Acosta will start from the front row of a MotoGP race for the first time this season after qualifying second for the Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao.
Returning to the scene of his debut premier-class podium, the Red Bull KTM rider split pole-qualifier Marco Bezzecchi and Fabio Quartararo in the 15-minute shootout.
But Acosta and his fast-starting RC16 will now be the holeshot favourite for this weekend’s races, with Bezzecchi frequently struggling to get off his Aprilia off the line this season.
“In the last couple of qualifyings we were doing a good job, but this will make everything easier,” Acosta said of his first front row in 21 attempts.
“So let's see how the race is, because Marco and Alex [Marquez] have amazing pace. I think we are working well. Let's see what is going on.”
Bezzecchi, meanwhile, braved the damp patches to hit the front for the first time this weekend.
“Yesterday we made a good step and today I was able to be fast since the beginning,” he said. “So very happy, very grateful to my team, to my guys. And now we have the two main events, the sprint today and the race tomorrow, but for the moment I'm enjoying. So let's keep working and let's keep trying our best.”
Friday leader Alex Marquez was also in contention for pole before a costly late fall. Under MotoGP’s new restart instructions, he was unable to rejoin and will line up fifth on the grid.
Meanwhile, Yamaha’s Quartararo fought through Qualifying 1 to claim the final front-row slot but remains cautious about his race pace.
“To be honest, I didn't expect to make this lap time,” said the Frenchman. “The first session I was without the earplugs, so I was a bit not focused!
“But we did a great job. I didn't expect to do that. For us, it's the first lap that is good, and I did it so really happy. Hopefully we can find a bit of race pace that is actually what we miss.”
Francesco Bagnaia, currently five points behind Bezzecchi in the fight for third in the world championship, was the top Ducati rider in fourth place.
The Portimao MotoGP Sprint starts at 3pm local time.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
