ACOSTA BOUNCES BACK FROM TOUGH QATAR PRACTICE TO REACH Q2

Pedro Acosta’s difficult Friday at the Qatar Grand Prix put him in Q1 for the first time in 2026. The championship’s fourth-placed rider had finished 14th, just 0.166 seconds short of an automatic Q2 place, and was the third-fastest KTM RC16 rider behind Enea Bastianini and Brad Binder. He was more than 1.1 seconds off session leader Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Acosta struggled to find his usual speed on the soft rear tyre. He had expected a difficult weekend, but found a sharp contrast between tyre options: “I had good pace on the used medium rear tyre over five laps; the times were good.” A medium front and soft rear for a time attack, however, was “a complete disaster”. He added: “I was fast with the medium rear tyre and really slow with the soft. Now something has to happen.”

He said grip disappeared unusually and rear-tyre braking performance was poor. A longer-used medium rear with a soft front also failed to work and “felt very strange”. Earlier, electronics problems had forced him to stop his KTM during FP1. Despite the setbacks, Acosta said the situation could hardly get worse and hoped Saturday would bring improvement.

Lusail has been a difficult circuit for Acosta since he joined MotoGP in 2024; his best Qatar result is eighth. Pundit Sylvain Guintoli suggested the track’s quicker, flowing corners limit Acosta’s strength under braking and through trail-braking. “He can’t make up time in the braking zones,” Guintoli said, adding that Acosta appeared to be forcing the bike and getting out of shape.

Acosta’s Q1 appearance also put his record of never being outqualified by a team-mate in the premier class at risk. The streak stands at 60-0 across three years, while Binder had already advanced directly to Q2. A broadcast graphic about the record appeared as Acosta debriefed with his crew; he put his head in his hands and turned away. Neil Hodgson said he expected Acosta to “come to the party tomorrow” and, after seeing the statistic, “there is no way he’s having that.”

In Saturday’s 15-minute Q1, Acosta was the favourite among eight riders, with only the top two advancing. Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer, returning after hand surgery, had missed Q2 on Friday by just 0.038 seconds. He initially led, but a lap was deleted for exceeding track limits; he later reclaimed a transfer spot and briefly beat Acosta’s time. Acosta responded on his final attempt, although he lost around two tenths before the line. His progress was never in danger: he finished second, 0.320 seconds behind Aldeguer, and both moved into Q2.

Honda substitute Jake Dixon also impressed, sitting fifth midway through the session and ultimately finishing seventh, just a tenth behind Honda rookie Diogo Moreira. Acosta’s narrow Friday deficit to the top 10 had offered hope that a small KTM adjustment could change his prospects. He remains fourth in the championship, 37 points behind Marco Bezzecchi, while Di Giannantonio is 30 points behind him.