‘The last 10 laps are a disaster’ - Pedro Acosta critical of Germany MotoGP race
Pedro Acosta says the last 10 laps of the German Grand Prix were not enjoyable as a rider
KTM’s Pedro Acosta says the early gaps between riders “doesn’t help to make a big show” at the MotoGP German Grand Prix, and called the last 10 laps “a disaster”.
Ducati’s Marc Marquez led from start to finish in Sunday’s 30-lap German Grand Prix, easing to a winning margin of just under two seconds.
There was little in the way of overtaking throughout the field, with Pedro Acosta proving to be one of the most mobile riders as he made his way from eighth on the grid to fourth.
Managing front tyre temperatures at the twisty Sachsenring track was a key cause of the lack of overtaking.
Asked if it was a race he could enjoy, Acosta responded: “Until lap 20 you can more or less enjoy, but the last 10 are a disaster, let's say.
“You just ride nice, just trying not to overheat the tyres, just trying to survive.
“Also, it's quite difficult to enjoy, because normally here the race is making this quite fast.
“I think already in lap 10 it was Marc, the two Trackhouse bikes, me, and it was already a gap of four seconds.
“This doesn't really help to make a big show, but riders just riding until lap 20 is OK.”
“It was a surprise…”
Acosta ultimately finished the race in fourth, around 2.5s from the final step of the podium.
However, he considers this a “surprise” result on his return from carpal tunnel surgery following the Dutch Grand Prix.
“I think we can say it was a surprise,” Acosta said.
“I think no one expected this race performance.
“It’s true that today in the warm-up we were trying a lot of things compared to yesterday, and I was trying a lot.
“I said to the guys, put the bike from yesterday, and I somehow tried to manage in the best way.
“It's true that we already knew that the medium rear was less critical to manage the front, and this first drop arrived around lap 17, something like this.
“That is exactly when I started to lose compared to [Ai] Ogura, but we have to be happy.
“I managed, I think, quite okay the tyres.
“We pushed in the moment that we had to push, but we were quite competitive at the beginning of the race.
“For this, a good way to finish before the summer break.”
