Pedro Acosta’s push for his first MotoGP victory suffered a major setback at the San Marino Grand Prix, with the KTM rider admitting his team had taken a step backwards at Misano.
Just a week after fighting Marc Marquez for victory at Aragon, Acosta endured a much tougher weekend in Italy as KTM struggled to match the pace of Ducati and Aprilia. Problems with braking and stability left the Spaniard searching for answers.
Acosta qualified seventh and even found himself behind Honda’s Luca Marini. Things did not improve much in the sprint, where he finished sixth, 6.944 seconds behind winner Marc Marquez.
That gap translated to more than half a second per lap, highlighting how much ground KTM had lost to the leading manufacturers.
“We’ve taken steps backwards,” Acosta said after the sprint.
Source: Motosport Week
The 21-year-old was particularly concerned by KTM’s difficulties under braking, an area that has traditionally been one of the RC16’s biggest strengths.
“We’re really struggling with braking, which is normally where we’re strong. We need to figure out why, because it seems like all of us on KTMs are in a similar situation,” he said.
Acosta also reported a loss of stability in sections where the bike had previously performed well, suggesting KTM’s problems were not limited to one specific area of the circuit.
The situation was made even more worrying by the pace of Ducati and Aprilia. Acosta described their advantage as “absolutely terrifying”, despite KTM putting everything it had into closing the gap.
The difficult weekend also raised fresh questions over Acosta’s chances of securing his maiden MotoGP victory before his current KTM chapter comes to an end. After showing race-winning potential at Aragon, Misano was a sharp reminder of how quickly the competitive order can change in MotoGP.
For now, Acosta’s focus is on collecting as many points as possible and working his way back towards the top five in the championship. However, KTM will need to understand its sudden loss of performance if it wants its young star to challenge at the front again.
Acosta’s sprint was made even more difficult by a battle with Gresini Ducati rider Fermin Aldeguer. The pair made contact on the third lap while fight
