Pedro Acosta delivered an early statement of intent at the Japanese MotoGP by finishing second in Practice at Motegi, strengthening his hopes of fighting for consecutive victories after claiming his maiden MotoGP win at the Red Bull Ring two weeks ago.
The result provides an important boost for Acosta at a circuit where he has previously shown strong potential. In 2024, the Spaniard was in contention for victory before crashing out of the lead in the Sprint and then falling from second place in the grand prix.
Acosta also stood on the Sprint podium at Motegi last year. However, he finished only 17th in the 2026 grand prix after a crash. This time, his KTM is giving him a feeling that is much closer to what he experienced at the Japanese circuit in 2024.
“Bike is working quite good, team is working quite good. Quite similar feeling to 2024 and much better than 2025, so happy,” Acosta said after Practice.
The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider believes his team has found a strong base setup for the opening stages of a MotoGP weekend, allowing it to concentrate on refining the finer details as the event progresses.
“At the end we are making good job. Looks like we find a good base bike for start the weekends and then just make the details for this,” Acosta added.
“Quite happy about how the thing is working.”
Acosta also pointed to changes at Motegi as a possible explanation for why the KTM feels more competitive this year. The circuit has been resurfaced, while Michelin has brought different tyre compounds compared with last season.
“I mean, maybe the biggest difference is that they resurfaced whole track and also the tyres are different,” Acosta said.
The KTM rider also believes his tyre management has improved significantly throughout the 2026 season. That represents an important contrast with last year, when he was competitive at Motegi but struggled to preserve his tyres over the course of the weekend.
“But it's true that about tyre management, if you check all the season, we were much better than last one,” he explained.
“At the end I was quite competitive last season because I qualified P4, I was second also on Friday, I made a Sprint podium, but then I was trying a lot to survive with the tyres for this.”
“Looks like it's not the same situation [as] last year,” Acosta concluded.
Baca Juga
Honda MotoGP hadapi GP Jepang dengan cedera, tapi Chantra dan LCR tunjukkan potensi tersembunyi di Motegi. Simak analisis lengkapnya.
Jorge Martin mengaku ritme musim lalu tak berlaku dan harus mulai dari nol di Jumat. Simak analisisnya jelang kualifikasi.
Pedro Acosta mengakhiri Jumat MotoGP Jepang di posisi kedua setelah merasakan performa KTM yang jauh lebih menjanjikan di Motegi dibandingkan musim lalu.
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