Pedro Acosta Edges Closer to Maiden MotoGP Victory: ‘It Was Coming Into My Mind

Pedro Acosta is nearing his inaugural MotoGP victory

"Certainly, it crossed my mind…"

Pedro Acosta feels that he is "nearing a victory" in MotoGP, and the possibility of achieving his first win at the Indonesian Grand Prix has been "crossing his mind."

The newcomer from Tech3 secured the third position during the qualifying session at Mandalika last weekend and competed against Jorge Martin for victory in Sunday’s 27-lap grand prix.

At one point, Acosta managed to reduce Martin's advantage to 0.6 seconds. However, by the time they reached the finish line, Acosta was 1.4 seconds behind, after the gap had increased to 2.5 seconds in the final laps.

An investigation into tire pressure after the race almost cost him his podium finish, but officials found that a damaged wheel rim was to blame, so no penalty was imposed.

Believing he has recently achieved steady top-five speed on the KTM, Acosta is confident that his first victory is imminent, especially after securing his fourth grand prix podium this year.

"Absolutely, the thought of winning in Indonesia crossed my mind," he mentioned.

"It was really tight. Perhaps we should consider focusing more during FP2 to get more laps on the tires. By the end of the race, I found myself facing several uncertainties and might not have been handling things as well as I could have."

"In any case, we should be pleased since we showed great strength today."

"Absolutely, I mentioned since Thursday that this track suits both us and KTM well."

"I'm pleased because I needed to complete a race. In the last two races at Misano, I was competitive, but I crashed in both."

"I attempted to close the gap, but after lap 16 or 17, he began to distance himself. At that point, I realized that finishing in second place would be preferable to risking a crash, as we needed more data."

"We should be pleased because we've managed to consistently rank within the top five and compete against the Ducatis, which is quite challenging."

“We should feel joyful as we are making progress and moving nearer to our goal.”

Acosta attributes his solid performance in the grand prix to enhancements in his early-race speed. However, he acknowledges that he needs to make similar improvements in the sprint races, as evidenced by his sixth-place finish on Saturday in Indonesia.

He mentioned that the start of the races is their most vulnerable aspect.

"I aimed to be somewhat more responsive during the initial laps."

"In this situation, I aimed to overtake Enea Bastianini early on and keep up with Martin, as that's ultimately what sustains you in MotoGP."

"We should feel pleased; we demonstrated considerable strength throughout the weekend and proved our ability to achieve fast lap times."

"Our usual shortcoming is evident here. We have to make some enhancements in the sprint race since the performance we observed didn't match what we saw in the grand prix."

"We need to speed up slightly under these conditions, as that's the only aspect we're lacking. We've now achieved consistent top-five finishes."

Following the grand prix, Acosta commended Tech3 and KTM for their hard work that led to his podium finish, stating that they are more deserving of the recognition than he is.

"The team and the factory definitely earned this outcome," he stated.

"They are putting in an immense effort to elevate this bike to the highest standard, and we are making significant progress."

“We appreciate the entire test team, including Dani and Pol, as well as everyone at the factory who is putting in significant effort to provide us with new advancements.

"Additionally, I want to acknowledge the entire team at the track who are dedicating their lives to this project. We are making progress, and I believe they deserve recognition even more than I do."

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