Pedro Acosta narrowly missed the podium in the French MotoGP sprint race, finishing fourth but taking satisfaction from once again being the rider who made the most overtakes on track—three in total, passing Joan Mir, Marc Márquez, and Fabio Quartararo.
“A bittersweet feeling, a bit,” he began. “We saved the day, knowing how tight everything was and that yesterday I was already on the limit to get into Q2. Salvaging fifth on the grid was something. It seems what KTM brought me helps a little more in qualifying, especially—for some reason I feel a bit better. But it was a shame to have such a bad start as I did today, because we had the pace to fight between Pecco and Bezzecchi. Maybe not for the lead, but among them. Anyway, good overtakes and good pace. It cost me a bit more to come back at the end to try to put some pressure on Marco, but I think we have to be happy. Fourth again. I’m gaining the consistency I lacked last year.”
Asked about his three overtakes and whether any stood out, Acosta replied: “Well, the ones on Mir and Quartararo lifted my morale the most, because I had been struggling throughout the weekend in those last two corners. Seeing that you can at least be competitive where you were suffering most with the soft front tire is good for tomorrow.”
Reminded that the 2026 Acosta is nothing like the one who made mistake after mistake in 2025, he said: “I try. In the end, if you look at my season last year, it was centered on a first part with many errors, and a second part where I got some podiums—fourth, fifth, sixth—collecting points, even if few. Like it or not, that maybe led me at the end of the year to fight for third in the championship. It’s true Bezzecchi eventually pulled away, but I had that option at one point. I wouldn’t want the same to happen this year—to start losing things that maybe five races from now could see us click and go super fast, and I no longer have the chance because of all the errors we’re making now. I try to set myself two goals: the normal goal and the ‘hopefully’ goal. Today the goal was the podium, but we have to be as happy as we are with fourth.”
He also commented on Jorge Martín’s strong start: “Martín already made very good starts on the Ducati… He seems to have a very good feel for the first clutch bite when the lights go out. It’s true something strange happened to me—the feeling with the clutch wasn’t the same as usual. I also zoned out a bit with the lights; I didn’t launch like I normally do. We have to try not to make these mistakes, because as I said they don’t seem like many points, but today it cost us the chance to fight for a podium.”
On the weather forecast for Sunday: “They told me it will rain, but they also said it would rain at this hour today and not a drop fell. Tomorrow, whatever will be, will be. In the end, thinking a bit selfishly for myself and the brand, it’s good to have dry sessions to improve for Montmeló and Mugello—especially Mugello, where I suffered last year. Whatever comes, comes. I think we’re ready for everything. Normally, when I ride in the wet on a MotoGP bike, I’ve always been strong.”
