Fifth in the long race of the Malaysian GP, Pedro Acosta was the best KTM man today and referred to the importance of finishing the race, for points but especially in his evolution and growth as a rider.
Acosta regretted that the pace was not as strong as he would have liked, despite being strong: ‘It wasn’t enough. I lost a lot of time overtaking Maverick [Viñales], Fabio [Quartararo] and [Álex] Rins. It was tough and maybe if I had a bit more pace I could have been closer to Álex [Márquez]. It’s true that when I was getting the front tire up to temperature, it went up a lot and it was very difficult to manage’.
Then the rookie went into safety mode, more measured and without taking so many risks: ‘With about five laps to go I lost the front at the last corner and said: «Shit, we’re not going to throw the race into the bin for nothing». It was also very important to see the difference between the fairings, between the one I used yesterday in the Sprint and today in the long race, and it was much better because I was able to overtake and that’s why I’m not happy to finish but I’m happy because it was also necessary for us to finish’.
And he once again showed great ability and maturity, always thinking about the future and all the opportunities that are lessons he can learn:
– It’s true that, and don’t get me wrong, I was pushing to get to fourth but when there are five laps to go and I was less than 1s [from fourth] and then on the next lap I was more than 1s… What I wasn’t going to recover in fifth [in terms of time] I wasn’t going to recover in fourth either, and so it was necessary for me, for us and even one day when we are fighting for the championship to understand that at the end of the season less is more. Looking at how many points I’ve already lost in races where I’ve crashed… it’s a lot isn’t it?! Put a fifth place in all the circuits where I crashed, it was a lot of points at the end of the season and so I also have to put that in my head. On Sundays we need to calm down a bit.