ACOSTA SAYS STRANGE ISSUE MADE MOTEGI HIS TOUGHEST RACE IN YEARS

Pedro Acosta called the Japanese Grand Prix his first “tough” race in a “really long time” after an unexplained issue left him seventh. The KTM rider arrived at Motegi fresh from his maiden MotoGP victory in Austria and qualified on the front row, but could not turn that single-lap speed into a strong race. He described the problem as “strange”; the report linked his struggles to racing on the hard rear tyre.