ACOSTA ESCAPES BAGNAIA CRASH AND FINISHES SIXTH IN QATAR SPRINT

Pedro Acosta salvaged a difficult Friday in Qatar to qualify eighth, then finished sixth in a chaotic MotoGP sprint. The KTM rider had to come through Q1 after placing 14th, advancing in second place. A technical issue then disrupted his Q2 session. “Q1 wasn’t particularly good, but it wasn’t a disaster. Q2 was going well until a technical problem,” he said.

Acosta made a strong start and was challenging Francesco Bagnaia for fifth on lap two when Fermin Aldeguer dived up the inside at the final corner and took the Ducati rider down. Acosta escaped the crash, which brought out a red flag and stopped the sprint. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen a crash like that in MotoGP. I hope Pecco is OK,” he said.

The Spaniard described Aldeguer’s move as “very early and aggressive” but was sympathetic to the Gresini rider, who was returning from injury. “I understand his situation. Fermin is coming back from an injury. You have to get used to the aero and the bike again. Anyone can make a mistake,” Acosta said.

After the restart, for a shortened 10-lap race, Jorge Martin passed Acosta early. Acosta then pressured Raul Fernandez and briefly moved up to fifth after Marco Bezzecchi also retired. Johann Zarco later reclaimed the position, but Acosta held off Ai Ogura to take sixth.

Acosta said he struggled to get the tyre working, a problem he had also experienced at the Barcelona restart. “I suffered trying to make the tyre work. We have to understand why, because it also happened to me in Barcelona,” he said. He believed the red flag cost him a chance of a stronger result: “Without that red flag, we could have had more opportunities. Not necessarily for the podium, but for a top-four finish.”

The result leaves Acosta on 299 points, 112 behind championship leader Marc Marquez. With only 99 points available across the remaining rounds in Qatar, Portimao and Valencia, Acosta is mathematically out of title contention. Despite the Friday difficulties, he felt the weekend had improved: “We’ve turned the weekend around, although we’re still a long way off.”