Pedro Acosta says he would have been “happy” with his Thai MotoGP Sprint even if he was not handed the win by a Marc Marquez penalty.
Acosta and Marquez battled throughout the 13-lap Sprint in Thailand, but it was Acosta who led heading into the final corner for the penultimate time.
Marquez launched a late attack down the inside, though, and made light contact with Acosta’s KTM. It was this that earned Marquez a ‘drop one position’ penalty that he served before the last corner on the final lap.
Ducati’s Davide Tardozzi said afterwards that the penalty was “unfair”, and even Acosta didn’t seemed too upset with Marquez’s pass, feeling more enthusiastic about his potential to fight with the reigning MotoGP champion than to be declared the winner after Marquez moved aside.
“It’s true that, after our touch, entering the last lap I was not really believing, let’s say,” Acosta told MotoGP.com.
“But I was quite fast in sector three and sector four, and I was catching back what I was losing in sector one and two.
“It’s true that Marc [Marquez] was braking super-late in the last corner and also turn one, and it was quite difficult to make the move.
“But we have to be happy; even without his penalty I’m happy for the job that we make and for the battle that we were able to do.”
On the move itself, Acosta said: “We know how tough it is to stop the bikes in MotoGP, also with this heat sometimes it’s better to just release the brakes and just go a bit wide.
“It’s true that it’s also what makes MotoGP exciting for the fans. I hope that everyone enjoyed at home.”
Acosta added that he felt the result was one that came after progress made during the winter, although there are still areas that need improving in the KTM camp.
“It’s true that will come tough situations and we have to be ready for [them], but I’m super-happy, the team was working a lot,,” he said.
“It looks like we make some clicks that was working during the winter.
“It’s true that there are still parts that are missing, like qualifying, but we are making a really good job.”
