Pedro Acosta says Qatar MotoGP tyre pressure issue not KTM’s fault

Pedro Acosta says the tyre pressure problem he faced during the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix was down to “other issues that we don’t understand”.

The KTM rider was running in the podium places when he moved aside to let Marc Marquez through into third at the start of lap six.

Acosta eventually had to cede places to Ai Ogura and Enea Bastianini to ensure his front tyre pressure was legal, resigning him to sixth at the chequered flag.

It’s not the first time Acosta has had this issue, having encountered it at the Indonesian Grand Prix, also while fighting Marquez.

“We didn’t do anything wrong”

Acosta felt KTM was too safe with its tyre pressures in the sprint in Qatar, but says the brand was not at fault for the issues he faced on Sunday.

“Yeah, again,” he told the official MotoGP website when asked about the problem.

“I don’t know. Anyway, I’m happy because how we turned the weekend around was quite impressive.

“Today, we were having the pace to make a proper P4, close to the podium; maybe not battling with Marc, who knows with [Raul] Fernandez.

“But, anyway, a proper P4. But, as you could see, we had an issue with the tyres.

“We didn’t do anything wrong, being honest, because we used the same strategy as all the KTMs, who were fine the whole race.

“But we had other issues around the tyres that we do not understand.

“Now it’s a matter to check all of the data, see what happened in the race, because we improved a lot during the weekend.”

Acosta noted that his front tyre was unusually cold, which KTM doesn’t understand.

“It was a constant issue,” he said.

“It’s true that when I was in front of Marc, the issue was bigger.

“Then I spent a bit of time behind him to try to make it go up.

“Then Marc did a push, I was there in no-man’s-land, and I was struggling again.

“Then I had to let Ogura past, then Enea, then it was too late when I was in a safe place. P6 - it is what it is. We did the weekend as best as we could.”