Pedro Acosta’s Austrian Nightmare: Key Takeaways from a Dramatic Austrian MotoGP

Pedro Acosta Faces Difficulty | Key Takeaways from Austrian MotoGP

Here are the top five highlights from the Red Bull Ring

The Austrian MotoGP saw a commanding performance from a rider who has claimed victory in seven out of the 11 major races this season, with the top three finishers separated by just seven seconds. Thankfully, the competition further down the pack added some excitement to the event.

From Marc Marquez's unfortunate beginning to Pedro Acosta's challenging race in Austria, we highlight our top five takeaways from the Austrian MotoGP.

Bagnaia’s Commanding Performance

Francesco Bagnaia clinched a win in Austria, matching Kevin Schwantz's record of 25 top-tier class victories. This achievement places him just six wins short of Dani Pedrosa and Eddie Lawson on the historical leaderboard. Additionally, Bagnaia has secured seven Grand Prix wins this season, equaling his total number from 2023.

Since the 2021 Aragon Grand Prix, where Bagnaia secured his maiden win in the premier class, a total of 57 MotoGP races have taken place. Bagnaia has claimed victory in 25 of these races, translating to a win rate of 43.9 percent since his initial triumph. Additionally, he has reached the podium 38 times during this period, achieving a top-three finish rate of 66.7 percent.

He currently holds a 63.6% victory rate for the 2024 season, and the sole Grand Prix where he didn't make it to the podium since securing ninth place at the 2022 Valencia Grand Prix was the Americas GP this year.

Based on the statistics, the Italian rider has evidently been the leading competitor in MotoGP over the last two and three-quarter years, and his performance in Austria demonstrated this dominance.

During the press briefing after the race, he explained that he exerted extra effort midway through the competition to create a lead, fully aware that he would lose traction at the back by the race's conclusion. However, he was confident that Martin wouldn't be able to bridge the two-second distance he had established.

Bagnaia has secured many of his 44 top-tier podium finishes due to his remarkable grasp of Michelin tyres, particularly the rear ones. He knows precisely how to maintain grip and the best times to exploit it.

Surpassing him to claim the 2024 title presents a significant challenge for his competitors.

Martin's sense of urgency

As Francesco Bagnaia secured his seventh Grand Prix victory of the year, Jorge Martin found himself finishing in second place yet again.

Martin seems to be developing a curious trend in MotoGP's Sprint format, consistently securing second place in his last four races: the British Sprint, the British Grand Prix, the Austrian Sprint, and the Austrian Grand Prix.

Every one of those second-place finishes has followed a win by a factory Ducati, which he likely finds pleasing, particularly as it is his primary title competitor, Bagnaia, who is securing the victories in Austria.

Martin's most recent win was at the German Sprint, though it seems more distant due to the summer break and his subsequent crash. His last Grand Prix triumph was in the French MotoGP back in May. In the meantime, Bagnaia has clinched five victories, with Martin coming in second to him in four of those races, except for the one in Germany.

Consequently, there is no doubting Martin's reliability this year. Although he has experienced crashes while leading in two Grands Prix and during the Italian Sprint, he has consistently secured podium finishes whenever he completed a race, regardless of whether it was on a Saturday or Sunday.

Taking into account that his title bid last year was largely hindered by finishes like a seventh place in Austria and a fifth place in Australia, Martin’s current streak of podium finishes is highly encouraging. He is now just five points shy of the championship lead.

Martin must return to his winning ways. Consistently finishing in second place is commendable, but it won't secure a championship if the same competitor continues to finish ahead of him each week, particularly when that competitor is leading in points.

Marquez’s Mishap

Marc Marquez detailed how an error on his part caused the start device to disengage on the grid 🗣️ A significant mistake from the eight-time World Champion.#MotoGP #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/dZCeWdPaMW— Crash MotoGP (@crash_motogp) August 19, 2024

Marc Marquez detailed how an error on his part caused the start device to disengage on the grid 🗣️ A significant mistake from the eight-time World Champion.#MotoGP #AustrianGP pic.twitter.com/dZCeWdPaMW

The highlight of the Austrian Grand Prix was undoubtedly the beginning of the race, a moment typically filled with excitement, but this time it was particularly thrilling due to Marc Marquez's actions.

He didn't make any major mistakes, but his race was compromised before he even reached his starting position because he failed to activate his launch system.

To activate the front start mechanism, riders must apply intense braking to compress the front suspension, then gradually release the brake to prevent the mechanism from unlocking as they ease off. In a post-race interview, Francesco Bagnaia noted that this process is particularly challenging in Austria due to the front forks being adjusted to a very stiff setting to handle the heavy braking required at the Red Bull Ring.

This incident is essentially what ruined Marquez’s race. A fresh tire was installed just before the warm-up lap due to a broken tire valve on the grid. However, the new tire wasn't warmed up to the same temperature as the original one, forcing him to exert more effort during the warm-up lap to get the tire up to the right temperature before the race began.

As he approached the starting line, he activated the front start mechanism, but then he braked forcefully once more to increase the tire temperature. However, he let go of the brake too abruptly, causing the start device to deactivate. With no time to activate it again, his start was compromised, and his chances of competing for a podium finish disappeared.

Following that, he performed exceptionally to climb back up to fourth place, demonstrating speed comparable to the front-runners once he had a clear track from lap 18 onwards. However, the crucial takeaway from Marquez’s start is that in an era where every competitor uses a start device, the risk associated with these devices outweighs the advantages they offer.

Acosta’s difficult experience

Pedro Acosta had a decent start at the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday morning, securing the sixth position in the first practice session (FP1).

Towards the end of the session, he experienced a crash at turn four. This incident occurred after he had already fallen at turn 2b a few minutes earlier, causing his hard-compound front tire to lose temperature. The crash at turn four was both rapid and severe. Although Acosta was not physically injured, the crash significantly disrupted his weekend.

He didn't make it into the top 10 during Practice, couldn't advance from Q1 to Q2, and ended up finishing in a disappointing 13th place on Sunday.

Acosta is a newcomer to the premier class who has made such a significant impression that, despite knowing he's a beginner, you find yourself ignoring the typical expectations for rookies when it comes to him. At the start of the season, Acosta was KTM's leading rider, but on Sunday he ended up 15 seconds behind Brad Binder, finishing in fifth place.

Here are the facts: Acosta experienced his first significant accident in MotoGP on Friday. Although he previously had a notable fall on the last lap of the Dutch TT at the high-speed turn seven, that incident was relatively routine as it involved losing grip on a cold tire while navigating the corner.

In Austria, however, the accident was highly unusual because the front end collapsed as soon as he applied the brakes. The speed at the time was also exceptionally high, exceeding 300 kilometers per hour.

From that point forward, his weekend served as a reminder that although Acosta is undoubtedly one of the most thrilling riders in MotoGP, he is still a newcomer for the time being.

The Enea Bastianini Phenomenon

Enea Bastianini proved unbeatable at Silverstone due to his exceptional ability to maintain the grip of his rear tire.

In Austria, Bastianini couldn't compete with Bagnaia and Martin. They all experienced front wheel locking, but Bastianini struggled with it more than the others.

The victor at Silverstone finished seven seconds after Bagnaia when they crossed the finish line on Sunday, a stark contrast to previously leading by nearly six seconds at Silverstone.

In the context of a championship, the distinction between the two racers lies in Bagnaia's remarkable consistency since the Spanish Grand Prix, while Bastianini continues to face considerable fluctuations in performance.

Absolutely, his Sunday scores have matched Bagnaia's since the summer hiatus, but the reality is that Bastianini had a stroke of luck in Austria. The Red Bull Ring's design makes overtaking challenging due to the intense front tyre temperatures and pressures, which are heightened when trailing other motorcycles.

Bastianini began the race in seventh position and managed to finish in fourth place. Marc Marquez's poor start on Sunday caused a lot of disruption, which allowed Bastianini to move up to third place by the end of the first lap, a position he maintained until the race concluded.

The crucial aspect is Bastianini's qualifying position in the third row: even when Bagnaia and Martin aren't performing at their peak, they still secure spots in the first two rows, keeping the race within their control. In contrast, Bastianini drops back further, making it harder for him to catch up during a typical race start.

The ongoing lack of consistency will keep hindering Bastianini's chances of becoming a serious contender in the title race, which, following the events in Austria, appears to be a competition primarily between Bagnaia and Martin.

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