Pedro Acosta’s crash in the Czech Grand Prix sprint was caused by a malfunctioning ride-height device that failed to disengage from the very beginning of the MotoGP race.
Qualifying eighth on the grid, the KTM star gained two places on the opening lap and spent the first half of the sprint battling with the factory Aprilias of Marco Bezzecchi and Jorge Martin.
He was doing enough to hold off 2024 champion Martin when he went down at Turn 11 on lap six of 10, suffering only his second retirement of the season.
While five other riders also crashed in a race that saw only 15 finishers, Acosta explained that his exit was caused by having to troubleshoot a technical problem while fighting for a top-five result.
“We have a technical issue with the rear device that was locked all the way,” he said. “I was just trying to bring it back to the standard position. When you are not focusing correctly and you are trying to solve all the problems, it’s easy to happen.
“I’m sorry to the team, because maybe I was able to manage another way and maybe finish seventh or eighth, but it’s not what I wanted. Now it’s time to analyse what happened and then keep going.”
Acosta clarified that the issue hit him at the start and he couldn’t fix it during the race.
Only on Friday, the Spaniard had called for a complete ban on holeshot devices, saying removing only the front device – as is currently planned for the British Grand Prix in August – “is not the safest thing”.
Acosta spent the middle of the race battling the faster Aprilia of Martin. The latter completed a pass under braking for Turn 4 to move ahead, only for Acosta to fire back at the next right-hander.
Having fended off Martin’s initial advances, 22-year-old was chasing Bezzecchi for fifth when he crashed going into Turn 11. Acosta said the limitations posed by the rear device made it hard for him to focus on his battle with the Aprilias.
“I made the first big mistake with the device at Turn 3 when Martin passed me,” he explained. “I was slightly slower in the straights and my only possibility was to try to make him lose a bit the line and then try to pass.
“Then I was catching Bezzecchi. I would say that we were not having amazing pace, but it was acceptable for being in the top 5.”
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