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On the first day of free practice in Jerez, which bears the signature of Bagnaia with seven other Ducatis in the top 10, Pedro Acosta's GasGas travels alone, returning to the pits at the end of the day with a 6th time at 4 tenths from Pecco and the only bike in the KTM family to secure a direct entry into Q2. However, the Spaniard knows his own limits given by experience and dampens enthusiasm, admitting that he does not yet feel ready to take off on his own, yet there he is, a rookie who has already been challenging veteran riders since the beginning of the season. The Spanish circuit, it is clear, will be a favorable battling ground for the Spaniards, and Acosta, with two podiums already under his belt, could be among them. Expectations therefore remain high, but such close lap times and risky track conditions on the day tomorrow could reshuffle the cards. What is certain is that the 19-year-old is in everyone's sights, KTM first and foremost, which may want to promote him to the Factory team as soon as possible, but in this regard Acosta says he is not ready to think about the future, he thinks about having fun.
Did it help you today to follow Pedrosa on the track?
" It's clear, it's easy when you have the opportunity to follow a top rider with such experience on this circuit ," Acosta replies, "someone who knows how to deal perfectly with a track like Jerez. As always, for me FP1 remains the worst session of the weekend because I have to try everything from scratch but we still did a good job."
In the time attack you had a chance to follow some Ducatis.
"I still don't feel ready to do a fast lap completely on my own on Friday, because how many laps did I do on this track at the end of the day? It must have been 40 at the most. In qualifying I usually come in more prepared, but on Friday it's more difficult. There is a lot to work on on a MotoGP, the work to be able to do a time attack is even more."
Racing here in Jerez on a MotoGP, on a track you know really well, how different is it from the bikes you've raced on in the past?
"It's not just a matter of speed, the biggest difference is felt in the G-force you are subjected to under braking and acceleration. From Turn 1 to Turn 2 the meters flow very fast, it's like that from Turn 4 to Turn 5, Turn 6 to Turn 7, and so on, these straights are not really straights, you don't take them on full open throttle because then you have to keep other factors like wheelies under control, and sometimes it can be difficult to keep everything under control."
Is it the most complex track since you landed in MotoGP?
"The problem is that everyone here is really fast, all my rivals have done many more laps than me here, with testing with the Panigale or any other bike. We are all really close, I have the 6th fastest time but up to 10th we are all within a tenth of a second. So it's difficult, you have to work on the setup and the electronics, that's the real difficulty. I think tomorrow we could make a step forward but at the moment we are not in the best condition compared to our rivals."
Is there a possibility that you could be promoted to the Factory KTM team this season, as also happened in Formula 1? Would you be willing to do that?
"You have to ask Pit Beirer. I am happy with my team, in my current team and with my current bike. I don't have a reason to say I want to change, but that's not for me to decide . I just enjoy myself and racing motorcycles in this big family that is KTM. I don't feel ready yet to be able to say with confidence that I will get this or that result on this circuit. I'm not ready to decide about my future, and I'm happy with all the support I'm getting from Pierer Mobility Group, they are really giving 200 percent and I'm happy with where I am now."
Automatic Translation by DeepL
