BEIRER SAYS TYRE CHOICE AND EARLY BATTLES HELD ACOSTA BACK IN MOTEGI

KTM left its home Grand Prix in Japan with two riders inside the top seven, but the results fell short of what its strong pace had suggested. Enea Bastianini finished fourth on both Saturday and Sunday, while Pedro Acosta, who had looked among the fastest riders all weekend, could manage only seventh in the main race.

The signs had been encouraging in Motegi. Acosta narrowly missed the fastest time in practice and qualified on the front row. Bastianini also showed improved speed, placing fifth in the timed session before securing seventh on the grid. But Acosta’s sprint ended in a crash, and neither KTM rider took a podium in Sunday’s race.

KTM motorsport chief Pit Beirer said the team had arrived with confidence, and that Acosta’s feeling on the bike had initially been strong. The Spaniard had asked the team to make as few changes as possible and was pleased with his qualifying position. However, Beirer said the sprint crash had affected him: “Being taken out after just a few metres is never a good feeling.”

Acosta’s race was also complicated by the switch to harder tyres. According to Beirer, the change had a greater impact on him than on Bastianini. Acosta is usually aggressive from the opening lap, but “that only works when he has the feeling for it,” Beirer said. A couple of early uncertainties slowed him, and once his pace improved he became caught up in battles with the Trackhouse riders.

There were flashes of speed: Beirer noted that Acosta was at times lapping faster than the leaders. But the slow start and the fights later in the race limited his progress. The KTM boss wondered whether a medium tyre might have suited him better.

Bastianini, by contrast, was able to attack from the start despite using the hard tyre. Beirer said the Italian’s key improvement was getting near the front early. He argued that Bastianini often produces strong races but goes unnoticed when he begins around 15th. “If we can get Enea up front on Friday, then you get something like Japan,” he said. “Enea could attack straight away; Pedro couldn’t. That made the difference in the end.”

Beirer considered the fourth- and seventh-place finishes a solid team result and said KTM would head to Indonesia in good spirits. The team expects different tyre conditions there, but plans to leave Acosta’s motorcycle unchanged. KTM’s four riders finished 4th, 7th, 11th and 14th in Japan. The manufacturer remained third in the standings, with a 135-point advantage over Honda, while the fight at the top was still some distance away.