MotoGP 𝕴rookie Pedro Acosta finished Saturday’s ♛Portimao Sprint in seventh place, his best race finish so far in the premier-class.

The GASGAS Tech3 rookie was classified 5.088s behind Aprilia race winner Maverick Vinal𝔉es but had lost +2.367s compared to early leader Jack Miller on the opening lap alone, as he dr🥀opped to eleventh place.

Acosta then set the secಞond fastest lap of the race and, without the time lost on the opening lap, should have bee꧑n on the brink of the podium battle.

“The start,” Acosta said bluntly of what he needs to improve for Sunday. 𒐪“If you see, I lost a lot ✃of time in the first lap. 2.5s. Then finally it was 5s from Maverick.

“Now I lose less time during the🔜 race, if we take out the first lap. We were in the pace of the top guys.

“It’s true in the last laps what Maverick did was out of this world. [But] we are fast and there.ꦰ We are not only making one fly🍸ing lap.

“For this w💖e need to be more focussed on the start. Tomorrow we’ll try another setting in the clutch. Maybe I do something strange with the 🌊clutch as I come from a cable clutch and not a hydraulic one.

“Anyway, we need time on the bike, more laps, to be more fit on t🎐he bike. It’s just my 12th day on the bike so we nee🐻d time.”

While insisting that he needs to be happy with what they are already achieving, Acosta’s face said otherwi𒆙se.

“I'm more happy than ang🦋ry [but], like🧸 I said in Qatar, it’s quite easy to see how I feel in my face...” he admitted.

“The whꦿole weekend I was improving the way tha꧒t I ride, making big steps.

“I say again, we’re on the way, and the guys i🦩n the Pierer Mobility Group are coming with things to help me.

“We need to be more than proud of th😼e boys that are behind the project and the work behind the team.”

Acosta ✅spectacularly reached as high as fourth in the season-opening Q☂atar MotoGP, before dropping back to ninth.

The to🌳p KTM of Jack Miller was 0.7s ahead of Acosta, ൩in fifth, during the Saturday Sprint.