During the first day of Grand Prix MotoGP of Italy on the Mugello circuit,rookie Peter Acosta fell twice, changing in the eyes of some from demigod to human status.
More pragmatic, Hervé Poncharal explained on the microphone of Canal + with these words the loss of control of the young talent, who fights at the front in each session and now leads the KTM troops.
« Qhen we think about it carefully, it's a little bit despite everything, I was going to say in quotation marks, normal, because'he ... not we must not forget that he is a rookie, he turned 20 last weekend, he is the best in his factory, we'll say. It's theeul who is in the top 10 of Pierect Mobility as we speak. Littlee mistake at the French Grand Prix when he was in a position to make a super runsepsmall mistake in Barcelona when he could also a priori ppotentially be on the p sodium, so it's here Mugello, a circuit that he loves, he pushes and it is obvious that'he plays with the limit. Qsomewhere, There you go, we pay a little bit for all that. In addition the 2nd fall is in his tower ofe exit from the pits, which is relatively rare for him. In any case, heinWe're not used to that. I think we are reaching a point in the season where he would like to make it happen. Everyone pushes very away, the level is really very very very high when we see what fhave for example his colleagues in orange, oI really only see'it's at the limit of the package. So here is, it's not complicated, it's lakebear. He is a rookie, et s'Ihe was running around 15th place maybe he would take less risks and it chuterait less, mais it's not his style and it's for Cwhat we have love it”.
On a lighter level, Peter Acosta told an anecdote about his return on a scooter…
“My idea was to save time, and as it was going uphill, I got off the scooter to push and I said “what rubbish, this way we’ll go faster”. When I got to the hill the scooter had no power and I started pushing. But the thing is, when I got to the top, the guy said to me, “Dude, do you know how to get to the paddock?” »
– “No, don’t tell me that, don’t tell me that!” »
(Laughs)
Tell me you're in a rush at Mugello without telling me you're in a rush at Mugello 🏃🛵#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/HmXWeFfqxT
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) May 31, 2024
Third during the Practice despite his small blunder, the baby shark himself recognizes that this is part of his learning of the premier category of the Grands Prix.
As usual, we report his words here without the slightest formatting, even if it is translated from English.
You push so much that you end up pushing both on the bike and off the track…
Peter Acosta : “Well, the scooter wasn't powerful enough to go up the hill. That's why I had to push. But anyway, it was good. You know, we have to forget the two small mistakes, there were no really big falls. It wasn't because I was pushing, let's say I wasn't pushing when I fell, both times. I'm happy, because even with the falls we were able to carry out our plan during the day and we didn't lose much time. »
What is your plan for tomorrow? Do you have a margin?
“Well, a margin everywhere you know, but it is true that we need to improve T3 and T4. We also need to find out why we had the problem we had. Tomorrow we will try to focus on race pace in the morning. To do this, let's try to be focused.
Pedro, you said that riding here was a bit like Rossi's helmet...
" Yes, it's true. For me, it's at the end of the track that I feel the most speed, let's say. Because even if we go to Malaysia, Qatar, Barcelona, which are tracks with a long straight, here you feel that the walls are coming at you. Also because when you pass the final line, everything happens like this and starts to close. I also didn't expect the jump at the end of the straight to be big, huge, like it is. Because I remember that in Moto2, I arrived like that, I did a little wheelie with the front and that's it. Here the whole bike jumps and you can hear the engine revving. It's very nice to ride here, to be honest it's one of the most fun circuits of the season. »
Did you have the same problem as in Barcelona?
“No, no, it’s over. It's finish. We fixed the problem. »
You said you had to work on small issues for tomorrow. What kinds of things do you need to work on?
“Well, more than anything, on my trajectories, you know, because now I'm losing a lot of time in sector 3 and sector 4. More on trajectories. You know, it's the same for me every Friday, let's say. Taking videos all the time, trying to understand everyone's trajectories and then trying to copy tomorrow. »
Yesterday Pol said that he noticed, especially in Malaysia and in the first test, that you used the whole track, from left to right: have you changed that now?
“We see that this is a way the bike likes to be ridden, and I also ultimately try to take the best from everyone and put it all together, you know. For me, it's pretty easy to copy these things, trick after trick, you know. For this, when I have everything under control, I can copy. Like I said, it feels like the bike wants a guy to ride it like that, smoothly, and for that, right now, the feeling is pretty good. »
Do you feel more confident for the Sprint or for the race, thinking about track confidence and race pace?
“Yes, the confidence is good, but we need to work on the pace of the race tomorrow to be competitive. »
For the Sprint, are you sure you can get a good result?
“Well, first of all, we have to start with the qualifiers, and then we'll see, because if we start at 20, things will be difficult. »
Did you understand the fall at Biondetti?
“The second one, right? Well, the tire was pretty cold. Nothing else. Yes, because I didn't push, because I also had Savadori in front. I released a little to have room to catch him. And by the time I let go, the tire got a little cold and, to be honest, I didn't really expect that. »
MotoGP Practice ranking for the 2024 Italian Grand Prix at Mugello:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
MotoGP Mugello Acosta
