Pedro Acosta shed light on the unusual front tyre difficulties that led to multiple crashes during Friday’s Dutch MotoGP sessions at Assen. The session was interrupted twice after Ai Ogura and Lorenzo Savadori’s crashes, with other riders like Marc Marquez also experiencing falls on the challenging track conditions.
The core issue stemmed from the medium front tyre, which many riders struggled to heat up properly in the cold and windy weather, impacting bike stability and control. Acosta described the problem as “quite strange” since even he could not get the tyre to reach the normal operating temperature during his three runs on the medium front compound.
Yes. Even for us, I made three runs with the medium front,
—Pedro Acosta, factory KTM rider
Despite the difficulties, Acosta emphasized the need to persist under these tough conditions, comparing them to similar weather challenges faced the previous year.
Anyway we need to keep this way. It was cold and windy like last year. We need to keep going.
—Pedro Acosta, factory KTM rider
Strong performance by Acosta as KTM aims higher at Assen
During his rookie season last year, Pedro Acosta placed only 15th on Friday at Assen, but this time, he impressed by finishing as the third-fastest rider in the second session, trailing only Fabio Quartararo and Alex Marquez. Acosta was also the fastest KTM ahead of teammate Maverick Vinales, who was eighth.
Acosta attributed his improved speed to increased calmness, better bike stability, and his growing experience, especially on challenging circuits like Assen, Mugello, and Silverstone where he previously struggled in Moto3 and Moto2.
We are improving my riding style. And riding in other ways.
—Pedro Acosta, factory KTM rider
He acknowledged that the team struggled last year throughout the weekend, but the current Friday results offer a more optimistic outlook for KTM at Assen.
It’s true to see how much we struggled last year – from FP1 to Sunday where we weren’t able to put anything together – this wasn’t a bad Friday,
—Pedro Acosta, factory KTM rider
Acosta also highlighted the importance of checking their race pace in preparation for Saturday’s sprint race and the main event on Sunday, signaling the team’s cautious but hopeful approach.
We have to be happy.
Acosta’s visit to Ducati’s homeland sparks curiosity amid uncertain future
Earlier in the week, Pedro Acosta spent a day in Italy’s Borgo Panigale, the home of Ducati, touring a museum that houses legendary bikes including Casey Stoner’s. This visit generated some speculation given Acosta’s mysterious future in MotoGP, but the rider clarified that his trip was purely to admire the classic machine and was not related to any negotiations or decisions.
