Pedro Acosta: Vinales, Rins had crazy corner speed, I said ‘I can do that too!’
The reigning Moto2 champion, who was earlier seen drifting his GASGAS-liveried machine into the final corne🅷r, joked he was eventu✱ally caught out after trying to mimic the corner speed of Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins.
“The crash came because I made a mistake in 💞Turn 1, then I had a movement between 1 and 2 and I was too much on the left to achieve the correct [line],” Acosta explain💮ed.
“But to be honest, I saw Maverick and Rins having cra💙zy corner speed, and I said, ‘I can do that t🌜oo!’
“It was totally my fault. But anyway, it was good also to understa🎀nd what I cannot do.”
Acosta finished his debut in 18th place on the timesheets, just ahead of new Yamaha rider Rins and only 1.223s fromও leader Vinales (Aprilia).
“It was better than my dream,” Acosta sa🌱id of his performance. “Because we have to be realistic. I cannot arrive here and say, 'I will destroy the lap record'.
“It's true I am super happy to be all day between +1 and 1.7s, it was super nice to be in this area. I think that the level is not so different from 𝕴the first to the last [rider in MotoGP], and small things make big gaps.
“You can see also on my last flying lap, I lost everything in the last sector. We have to understand how to ride and h𒀰ow and when to use some tools [features of the bike]. But anyway, it was a really good day.”
The Spanish teenager was also sa🍰tisfied to see that his riding🐟 style was already comparable with the other RC16 riders.
“We compared myself to all the KTM riders, between Augusto and all these things. It's true that it's no🤪t so differ🌠ent. It becomes quite normal.
“It's not a Moto2 bike, that is maybe a mix [racing chassis, productionꦯ engine], this is a real racing bike.
“But anyway, it was good. The important thing is the team was really focused to [giܫve me] a really good first impression about the bike.”
Acosta will be workinওg with ex-Pol Espargaro crew chief Paul Trevathan at Tech3 next season.
“My crew chief Paul has been here since the [KTM MotoGP]🌱 project started with Pol. Before I went out he said, "If you want to change something, tell me, I am here for you". And I said, "No, I am here for you!"
“He knows how💖 to help me understand how to ride, he knows perfectly that you need to prepare the bike for this. I'm quite happy to be in t♏his group of people. They are amazing.”
Acosta’s next MotoGP outing will 🎃be at Sepang in February.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Mar🧸c Marquez’s injury issues.
