Pedro Acosta fought for the lead at the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix in one the most competitive and promising weekends of the season for Red Bull GASGAS Tech3. The Spaniard started from Pole Position for the first time but a tumble at the final corner of the lap at Motegi ended his bid for a podium. Augusto Fernandez also did not complete the race distance.
All the signs were in place for another strong Grand Prix for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 team. Pedro Acosta, officially stamped as the 2024 Rookie of the Year on Saturday morning in Japan, had been fast all weekend and broke the lap record on his way to Pole Position. He then started to make a breakaway while leading in the Saturday Sprint and only a small error scrubbed his chances of a win. Augusto Fernandez had been searching for a cure to his vibration issues but the changeable conditions between wet and dry in Motegi meant consistent set-up work was tricky. He started the Grand Prix race from 18th on the grid.
In more dark but dry conditions Acosta had another chance to put his name in the 2024 Japanese history books. He started well and charged after world champion Francesco Bagnaia but lost traction through Victory corner and went into the gravel. He picked up and tried to continue but damage to the motorcycle eventually ended his race. Augusto pushed as hard as he could with his current state of feeling and confidence but unfortunately his hopes were dashed at Turn 5.
Acosta is 6th in the world championship standings and lies 2 points from the top five. After three consecutive weekends of racing, MotoGP now takes a well-deserved break before another ‘triple’ in Australia, Thailand and Malaysia. First up: Phillip Island in two weeks.
Pedro Acosta, DNF: “I saw the possibility to go for the lead but it was my mistake. We have to look at the positive; we had a weekend of making a lot of steps and a feeling that we were unbeatable. I don’t feel like that right now! But we made progress and we have to show the same again in Australia.”
Augusto Fernandez, DNF: “A shame to crash that early. We had changed a lot on the bike to gain more feeling and for what we’ve been missing a bit this season. I’m keen to get to Australia and to continue to work with this base. I want to finish the year in a stronger way.”
Nicolas Goyon, GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager: “We really felt we had everything in our hands to have one of our best weekends of the season. Pedro was happy with the bike and the way everything was working so the DNF today was tough, especially when fighting at the front. We have to learn from our mistakes and I’m sure this will make him a stronger rider. Augusto had a big change in terms of set-up and we reduced the vibration issue that he has been having but it was another crash and we did not meet our target today. Now, one week to rest and to analyze and we’ll be ready to fight again in two weeks.”
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