Pedro Acosta has lowered expectations despite topping the timesheets at the end of the opening day at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
At one point during the Friday afternoon Practice session, it was touch-and-go whether Pedro Acosta would secure a spot in Q2 for Saturday at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
However, even after crashing early on in the session, the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider was able to pull out a lap that put him at the top of the timesheets at the end of the opening day.
"It is not the best way to start two sessions, crashing quite early," Acosta told MotoGP.com after topping Friday Practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
"In the end, we have to try to avoid these mistakes, because the only thing that it gave us is a loss of time. We have to be more focused from the beginning, but anyway, it was a good day.
"We thought we were going to suffer, and more or less we saved Day One, with two KTMs in Q2, this is quite ok. I am super happy about Pol [Espargaro], seeing him again in Q2.
"We have to keep going, our pace was not so bad, but anyway, tomorrow we will have to check tyre management again."
'Our tyre degradation is quite high...'
Towards the end of Friday afternoon Practice, it started to rain across the Petronas Sepang International Circuit, but despite this, Acosta pushed on and was able to secure his Q2 position. Before going on to top the session when the rain stopped.
"On my lap to enter Q2, it started to rain," he explained.
"I had to go, because if it started to rain, I already had nothing to lose. I was already quite happy with the lap I had done, a 58.6 or something, and I was in P6. Then thankfully, the rain stopped and gave us more time on the track, and that was the thing I was missing."
Even though he had a positive start to his weekend at the Malaysian Grand Prix, the Spaniard has lowered any expectations as he is not sure about his tyre management.
"We have no expectations," Acosta stated.
"We know that our tyre degradation is quite high, and I think the best way is not to think too much. I need to try to get a good rhythm tomorrow, and focus on things that can make us better."
