Photo: Rob Gray (Polarity Photo)
Pedro Acosta reflects about his success at Balaton Park
Pedro Acosta enjoyed a memorable weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing second at Balaton Park. Despite a tough Saturday and a crash in qualifying, the young KTM rider bounced back to show skill, speed, and steady improvement with the RC16.
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Pedro Acosta continued to prove himself as one of MotoGP’s rising stars with his amazing second-place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Acosta secured his second podium of the season, showing that KTM’s RC16 bike is steadily improving.
Acosta was one of the few riders able to keep pace with race winner Marc Márquez throughout the weekend. Despite this, his costly crash in qualifying left him starting further down the grid, turning what could have been a victory fight into what he described as a missed opportunity.
Saturday was particularly tough for him, who suffered multiple falls and forced his mechanics to prepare two new bikes. Looking back, Acosta admitted it was a disaster, but said the setback helped him calm down before Sunday’s race. From there, he put together a measured ride to take second place, overtaking riders like Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi along the way.
Acosta reflected that KTM has always been competitive on tighter, less high-speed tracks where heavy braking plays a bigger role. At Balaton, that strength was on full display. “Everything felt quite easy on Friday, then Saturday was a disaster,” he admitted afterwards. “But I had to cool down and save a good result. At this track, starting far from the front row was a bigger handicap than usual.”
The Spaniard also acknowledged that experience played a role in his weekend. “I think the race was missing a bit of maturity from me on Saturday to avoid the mess I created. But in the end, we have to be happy. KTM is improving in every race.” He said to Motorsport Week.
Away from the podium celebration, Acosta also faced two dangerous moments. On Saturday, his crash at Turn 8 almost ended in disaster when his bike slid close to a trackside camera operator. Then, during the first lap of Sunday’s race, he narrowly avoided Enea Bastianini, who crashed and slid across the track in front of oncoming riders. Acosta said he was thankful to escape without being caught up in the accident.
So, while mistakes in qualifying cost him the chance to truly battle Marc Márquez for the victory, his performance at Balaton proves that both he and KTM are moving in the right direction.
