Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s MotoGP star rookie, Pedro Acosta, displayed evidence of his growing skill set at the highest level by qualifying 5th and scoring 6th place in a hectic San Marino Sprint at the hot and sunbathed Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today. The 20-year-old was fast from the outset for the first of two consecutive events at the venue. Augusto Fernandez claimed 16th in the thirteenth Sprint of 2024.
Flat, fast and flush with fans; the coastal-set Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli offered 16 inviting corners of varying speed for the riders of all three classes at the San Marino Grand Prix. Warm and hot weather from Friday practice intensified for Saturday and the quali and Sprint program for what is the second of three races in Italy this year.
Pedro Acosta got to work from the first laps of FP1 and was regularly troubling the leaders at the top of the time sheets. The rookie, who has only raced four times in his career at Misano, pursued the top five and made the direct cut to Q2. During the 15-minute chrono on Saturday afternoon Acosta was lively again, and his best lap was good enough for 5th place and the middle of the second row: only 0.3 of a second from the new all-time lap record. Augusto took 17th after the close of quali and after trying to push out of Q1.
For the Sprint Pedro followed and passed Brad Binder and then established his own rhythm just inside the top five. He was denied a top five classification on the final lap but carried home plenty of data and information to prepare for the longer distance on Sunday. Fernandez fought hard in the second half of the pack. Augusto hit track limits twice and had to do a Long Lap deviation, which he couldn’t quite execute correctly and was then given a three-second penalty, ranking 16th.
Double the laps and add another one for Sunday. MotoGP will scorch Misano at 14.00 on Sunday.
Pedro Acosta, 5th in qualifying, 6th in the Sprint: “Not bad but it was tough to follow the pace of the bikes ahead. We need to be more consistently in these positions near the front to be competitive again. We knew it would not be an easy race and with the Sprint mentality but let’s see where we can arrive for the long distance tomorrow.”
Augusto Fernandez, 17th in qualifying, 16th in the Sprint: “Not that bad until the Long Lap! I had a good start. I was still missing a little bit with the pace but was OK until the tire drop, when I also had some vibration. I’m still missing some tenths but that’s my limitation right now. I think we are progressing though. I was closer. We are making steps. The paper [results] still don’t look that good but we are coming.”
Nicolas Goyon, GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager: “A decent result today for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 team. We knew from this morning that Pedro had good pace and he also qualified well on the second row. We know we had some possibilities for the top five. Pedro started decently and then rode a strong pace. It was a dramatic last lap! Anyway P6, a good result but we all want more. Augusto didn’t manage to put it all together for a fast lap and P17 made it tricky for a good race. Just a mistake at the end with the Long Lap ruined things. Anyway, the main focus for him is tomorrow’s race and I think both riders will be going for improvements on Sunday.”
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