At the end of the Grand Prix MotoGP of the Americas on COTA in Austin, the press conference brought together Maverick Vinales, Peter Acosta et Enea Bastianini to answer various questions from journalists.
behind a Maverick Vinales in a state of grace this weekend in Texas, the rookie driver of the Tech3 team continues to amaze us by finishing disappointed 4th in the Sprint then 2nd in a Grand Prix from which he derived immense pleasure...
As usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the post-race press conference for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, a wild and classic race here at COTA. The winner of the race, Maverick Vinales, rider for Aprilia Racing, is to be congratulated! Maverick achieved the hat-trick this weekend: Pole position, Sprint victory and Grand Prix victory, making him the first rider in the modern era of MotoGP to win for three different manufacturers. Well done Maverick! Second for his first front row start, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 driver Pedro Acosta put in another incredible race. Ducati Lenovo Team rider Enea Bastianini completes today's podium here at COTA.
Second place, in only his third MotoGP race, he was the star of the show and he rose to the occasion again today. This is the first time, Pedro, that you have led the race in MotoGP. You even led the Grand Prix twice, after Marc Marquez crashed halfway through. Second here in Austin, you passed another important test. Did you enjoy this race, because from our point of view it was very exciting?
Peter Acosta : " Yes it's sure. I was talking to my manager before and I told him that since the days of Moto3 where I was overtaking many riders in the same race, having contacts and everything else, I hadn't had fun like that . I mean it was one of the most fun races of my life, even though I didn't win the race. But in any case, it was really good from the start of the race. Today was a bit difficult, because we hadn't tried the medium rear tire all weekend, and that was maybe a question mark for me. You know, coming from Moto2, we only use the same compound the whole weekend and the whole season. It's true that I was a little nervous before the grid. I saw his team (Vinales) talking with everyone and I'm like 'what is he going to do?' ", but anyway, I really enjoyed the race, you know, and the whole weekend. »
At this point, Maverick Vinales intervenes to say: "Sorry, but I thought the same thing, 'What are they going to do?' », because everyone was on the soft tires and I wondered. If Pedro changed, it might be better for me to change, but you haven't changed. »
- " No no. That's for sure, because otherwise I wouldn't have finished the race (laughs). »
In the end, you were still pushing and trying to catch up with Maverick. When did you realize it wouldn't work?
“No one in the world could catch him today!” I mean just look at the rhythm. Also yesterday I saw that the pace he had in the Sprint was out of this world here. That's why today was difficult. I tried, when he started to pass me, I tried to block him and all that, but today it was really, really difficult. You know, I talked with him about the fact that when he overtook me, I tried to brake harder in the 12 braking, and it was impossible for me to overtake him.
That's why today wasn't my day. »
Pedro, you are still very, very new to this exercise. Do lap times improve easily or do you feel like you're constantly on the verge of disaster every lap? What are your feelings when you get used to the motorcycle?
“Well, we’re getting better. I mean we don't know where the limit of the bike is at the moment. As you see, I don't have a lot of scraps and that means we still have some room. Anyway, we don't really touch the bike's settings. You know, I have the same settings since the Valencia test and we just focus on how I ride the bike, because sometimes I have moments really similar to the Moto2 style. Sometimes I can have a bit of locking or something else in the tires, because the Dunlops for Moto2 are completely different from the Michelins for MotoGP. For this we try to work on myself, more than on the bike, and we try to find my limits. »
Pedro, you said that after the Sprint race you took note of what Marquez and Martin did. What are these notes that you took? And how did that lead you to improve your running differently today than Sprint racing?
“You see, I can manage the tires better because yesterday was a complete mess. When Jorge overtook me, I was going slower and slower, and Aleix was also close to overtaking me. Today I really tried to manage throughout T1 and that right turn, and it worked. Regarding braking, today when I saw someone on the left, I left a little space to try to pass him again at the exit, because yesterday when Jorge overtook me, he blocked me a bit, and maybe that's why I couldn't have the chance to go with him on the back straight. »
Last year we often had the problem that riders couldn't keep up with another rider because the front tire was overheating. Today there were chases throughout the race and you all followed other riders who you were able to easily pass later. Was this issue resolved this year?
“For me, this tire rule and the penalties and those things were pretty new to the factories, and they didn't really have time to understand and work on it. In our case they work a lot and we are able to follow the bikes and not have big problems, only when braking, but this happens with aero and without aero. Anyway, I think, like I said, it was pretty new to everyone last year, and now everyone is starting to use it better, and also think about it when they build a new motorcycle. »
Results from the 2024 MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas, at COTA in Austin:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
