Pedro Acosta finished in sixth place on the final day of testing in Sepang. Here are his assessments after the three-day Malaysian test.
The Malaysian tests were a real breath of fresh air for KTM after a long winter dominated by the financial crisis, which still affects the Austrian brand. As far as the track is concerned, however, the riders’ feelings were, on the whole, positive, with Pedro Acosta finishing sixth on the final day of testing in Sepang.
The Spaniard, at the end of the day, gave his evaluations with the following statements: “Speaking for myself, I would say I feel good in terms of pace, speed, and single-lap performance. The priority is to make the bike a bit calmer because last year it moved a lot, and that caused many crashes. We’re better than the times say. But it was my mistakes that slowed us down. We should be happy. Little by little, we’re getting closer.”
Acosta then added: “There are things that need to be improved, especially understanding what we’re missing. I think I have a clear idea that if I had done everything perfectly, we would be closer to the top positions. In my case, I have more or less tried everything I needed to try, so in Thailand, I’ll focus on the setup.”
And finally: “Something happened during my race simulation because the tire wasn’t giving the best feedback. On the third lap, I was just trying to ‘survive,’ but then we did a ten-lap simulation, and I was four-tenths faster. I think we are closer than last year.”
Photo: X Pedro Acosta