Why Pedro Acosta’s stunning Aragon MotoGP pass on Marco Bezzecchi was “easy”

Pedro Acosta’s second place at the Aragon MotoGP was secured by a stunning around-the-outside move on Marco Bezzecchi, but he thinks the pass was “easy” in the end.

Acosta started fourth in Aragon, slotting in behind Marc Marquez whose rear ride height device re-engaged entering the second corner, causing him to slow and lose position to Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.

Bezzecchi would go on to lead the opening laps, but Marquez and Acosta both passed Martin, and then set on after Bezzecchi.

Marquez caught the Aprilia Racing rider on lap six and tried to pass at turn 15. Both of them lost momentum on the exit of the turn, and as the turbulence from each other’s bike buffeted them around on the run to turn 16 Acosta gained and spotted an opportunity.

With Bezzecchi boxed in on the inside of Marquez, on the dirty part of the track, Acosta was able to brake later than the Italian and sweep around the outside. 

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider would prove to have superior pace to Bezzecchi, anyway, and although, from the outside, the move was a spectacle, Acosta explained that the overspeed he had compared to Bezzecchi as they approached turn 16 made the move relatively “easy”.

“It was my moment to try to catch Marc [Marquez] and Marco [Bezzecchi] and to ride with them,” Pedro Acosta said of his pass on Bezzecchi in the post-race press conference.

He added: “At the end, they were both on the left and I was a bit with the slipstream, and I just went to the right. 

“Finally I was in the right position, even if I have to use a bit the kerb. It was an ‘easy move’, I would say, for the speed that I was coming.”

Ultimately, Acosta was able to take second place, but he knew even when making that move on Bezzecchi that Marquez would likely have something extra in the closing stages of the 23 laps.

“At the end, Marco was putting an amazing pace at the beginning of the race and Marc was really putting effort to catch him back. For this, I was just trying to follow the pace. 

“I knew that Marc was going to have something at the end of the race because from behind he was looking really relaxed, I would say, but I was just trying to follow the rhythm and see where I finished. 

“We didn’t finish so far, but there’s still a way to work.”