MotoGP’s persistent ability to surprise and entertain continued into round six of the 2024 world championship campaign as the series landed in Barcelona. GASGAS faced its home Grand Prix and Pedro Acosta jumped back onto the Sprint podium. Teammate and former fellow Moto2 world champ, Augusto Fernandez, was 17th.
MotoGP rounded the varied layout of turns and kinks at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the first of a back-to-back fixture double in Spain and Italy. The Grand Prix of Catalunya took place in a warm, overcast spring climate and with another strong attendance for the packed Saturday schedule of quali sessions and the 12-lap Sprint.
Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 got right down to business with Pedro Acosta chasing a slot in the top five of FP1 on Friday morning and then maintained the course in the afternoon for direct Q2. Augusto Fernandez continues to work on his adaption to the GASGAS RC16 and the search for high performance confidence and was 15th fastest, meaning Q1 on Saturday morning. Quali saw Acosta in excellent form and the birthday boy (20 today) was three tenths of a second under the old lap record. He was initially 4th and then placed 5th for the middle of the second row when another rider had a lap reinstated. Augusto ended the Q1 period with 19th on the grid.
The Sprint saw Pedro blast away from the line and into the dispute for the lead through the opening turns. #31 was intensely competitive with varying lines and bold overtaking moves as three riders lost traction and crashed around him. Acosta was able to keep within a second of the winner and crossed the line in P3 for his third bottle of Prosecco this term. Augusto made it to the flag in 17th.
MotoGP will circulate the 14 Catalan curves on Sunday at 14.00 CET and will again test nerves and tire conservation skills for 24 laps.
Pedro Acosta, 5th in qualifying, 3rd in the Sprint: “Not a bad way to celebrate today but the truth is that it was a super-difficult race for me, maybe the hardest of my short career in MotoGP so far for grip and management and how the front tire was hot like hell! I was suffering but happy with all the work we are making and how we’re able to be fast at another track. We must keep working in this way.”
Augusto Fernandez, 19th in qualifying, 17th in the Sprint: “I had a problem with the front start device and I almost pulled in. Anyway, I stayed out to find some data because it’s been a difficult weekend so far. Tomorrow will be a long race and the goal will be to try and get as close to the points as possible. Let’s see if we can make it happen and then look to Italy.”
Nicolas Goyon, GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager: “Super-strong Saturday for Pedro here. He gave himself a Sprint podium for his birthday and its again incredible to see what this kid can achieve. We know this track is tricky with low grip conditions and he’s been focused on this since Friday. He tried to be smooth and to tackle the conditions in the best way: P5 in qualifying and the podium was a good reward. We’ll probably use a different tire for the longer race tomorrow. On Augusto’s side we are still looking for a strong race…but it’s been difficult for him here this year. We need a result to get some smiles back on the faces, so, heads down and we’ll keep working.”
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