Pedro Acosta, the most difficult rider to overtake? "That's true, but it depends on the circuit."

Pedro Acosta and Alex Márquez put on a show during the Sprint of the Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao. On the circuit where he secured his first podium finish in MotoGPAt the very beginning of the 2024 season, the KTM rider came very close to securing his first victory in the category.

For nine laps, he resisted the successive attacks of the Ducati, each time regaining the lead over Márquez in the second sector, while the latter took advantage of the acceleration of his Ducati to seize the lead of the race at turn 1, after the long straight of the circuit.

After that point, however, the Gresini took off, and the race seemed lost for Pedro Acosta. But then came the stunning comeback of the Mazarron prodigy at the end of the race, which allowed him to believe in victory until the very last meters, although he missed out by less than two tenths of a second at the checkered flag.

Held back by the weaknesses of his KTM

"The problem is that our weak point is traction and their strong point is traction." he emphasized during a press conference after the race in Portimao. At turns 1, 2, and 3, I wasn't losing much time; in turn 1, I was recovering, and I was super strong in turns 3 and 5. The plan was first and foremost to be at the front. Because when you're at the front, you control the pace of the race and decide what you want to do. I tried for as long as possible, and then I was already too far back to attempt an overtake. Marco was pushing from behind, and I tried again on the last lap; I was recovering a lot, but I was 0,2 seconds short.

There is traction, but tire degradation at the end of the race is another weakness of the KTM that may have hampered Pedro Acosta in his battle with Alex Márquez.

“From the start of the race, we already had less grip than the others,” he regrets. I'm talking about the two main manufacturers at the moment, namely Aprilia and Ducati, and we're just trying to fight with the tools we have: braking points, trying to block the others in one way or another, and I tried until the end, but the race was too long.

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Pedro Acosta has matured in his duels

When asked about his ability to defend in these kinds of situations, Pedro Acosta proudly admits that he is one of the most difficult riders to overtake on the grid, if not the most difficult. Naturally one of the hardest brakers in the field, he explains how he has modified his approach in these types of duels. The number 37 seems to have indeed matured in this area, whereas he made many mistakes in these situations last year as a rookie.

"Sometimes the old Pedro wakes up and brakes as late as he can," the person in question is having fun. Then he tries to stop without sliding or anything. I'm happy I haven't lost that style. It's true that generally, everyone has a bit of trouble overtaking me, but it also depends on the track, because at Phillip Island, there were also two guys who were overtaking me on the outside for that very reason. We have to keep working. We're doing a good job, but knowing exactly when to use one tool rather than another is quite positive. There have already been many races where the old Pedro didn't come out. I'm also happy to be able to control myself, but before, it was quite difficult.

A new opportunity this Sunday

This Sunday, Pedro Acosta will have another opportunity to fight for the win. However, the task will be more difficult, as he will have to cover twice the distance of the sprint with a rear tire that will almost certainly suffer a lot.

“Tomorrow will be a race of management, it will be a long race, 24-25 laps. Nobody does many laps with the rear tire for that. It will be a question mark for everyone. Today was the first time I was really, really close to victory. That means we are working well, I am not making many mistakes.” concludes Pedro Acosta.

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