Pedro Acosta’s Austrian MotoGP blunder “understandable”, says fellow KTM rider
Pol Espargaro says Pedro Acosta’s late crash in the Austrian MotoGP Sprint was “understandable” despite the major consequences.
Pedro Acosta will have a shot at winning his first premier class grand prix on Sunday in Austria, but that chance will come a day after he threw away a certain victory in the Sprint today, although that crash was “understandable”, Pol Espargaro says.
Acosta was leading the Sprint by 2.5 seconds in the latter stages of the 14-lap Sprint at the Red Bull Ring when he fell at turn 2a.
Speaking to the media after the Sprint, Acosta explained that the crash happened when he missed his braking point at turn 2a for looking down at his dashboard to check he was okay with fuel to make it to the end of the race.
KTM test rider Pol Espargaro – who is again replacing Maverick Vinales at Tech3 this weekend – had his own thoughts on the crash, one that was surely devastating also for him given his role with the Austrian brand.
“I think he [Acosta] over-braked,” Espargaro said.
“Overall, he was a little bit out of the line, maybe a little bit too fast.
“But at the speed Pedro is riding this weekend, it's understandable that this happened.
“It's insane how fast he is riding and these things for sure can happen.”
Luca Marini had seen Acosta’s crash before he spoke to the media but before the Murcian had spoken. Even without the information Acosta gave post-race, it was clear to Marini what happened.
“He braked really late,” the Honda HRC rider said, before expressing some sympathy with with the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing man, knowing how small the margins are in MotoGP at the moment.
“For me, it was just a little mistake,” he said. “But the problem is that, at the moment, the limit, the level is so high.
“We are on the limit, that if you miss one centimetre, it's enough [to crash].”
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Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
