First one rider currently challenges Ducati, and that is rookie Pedro Acosta, the first non-Desmosedici rider to have stood on a grand prix podium since April. But what about those crashes? Don’t worry; it’s all part of the process.
They say that finishing first is essential.
Pedro Acosta did not finish either race at the Japanese Grand Prix.
However, his speed was sensational: pole position on Saturday, leading the sprint until he fell off, and about to attack winner Pecco Bagnaia when he crashed out of Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The previous Sunday in Indonesia, he had his greatest race yet in the top class, putting pressure on winner Jorge Martin throughout, his pace only five hundredths of a second slower than Martin’s, who has the best motorcycle on the field and is in his fourth season in the prime class.
The 20-year-old Spaniard is the first rider to have finished on the podium without Ducati power since the Americas GP at COTA in April. Without him, Ducati would have missed out on the last thirteen podiums. And, of the 48 podium positions this year, just six have been filled by non-Ducati riders, with Acosta taking four of those.
No other rider on any other bike can compete with him right now, so it’s no surprise that Acosta is MotoGP’s most impressive rookie since Marc Márquez.
On Sunday at Motegi, the first non-Ducati rider to cross the finish line was KTM rider Brad Binder in sixth place, 18.5 seconds behind Bagnaia and about eight-tenths of a second off the pace.
Acosta’s speed is mind-boggling, especially given that rookies face more challenges than ever before, dating back to the pitiless two-stroke 500s a quarter of a century ago.
MotoGP has changed dramatically over the last decade or two, particularly for newcomers who need to learn. There is less testing, less practice, and shorter qualifying sessions, as well as sprint races, which have revolutionized the entire grand prix weekend strategy. It’s FP1, then it’s off to the races: pre-qualifying in Friday’s second session, qualifying and the sprint on Saturday, a ten-minute warm-up on Sunday morning, and finally the big race.
This structure – FP1 to clean the track and FP2 shortly before qualifying – gives riders and crews no opportunity to experiment, change anything significant, or even sit and ponder for a few moments. That’s a significant difficulty for everyone, but especially newcomers.
MotoGP bikes are no longer just regular motorcycles doing normal motorcycle stuff. They don’t pitch fore and aft into and out of bends, making them more resemble two-wheeled Formula One vehicles. They also include a variety of devices, buttons, and switches, as well as dash messages and tire pressure calculators.
At the same time, riders must consider avoiding slipstreams to keep their front tyre cool, or locating a slipstream to raise the tyre pressure above the minimum. They must consider locking the front wheels without crashing, avoiding air-stop vacuums while braking from high speeds, being blown off course by a competitor’s aero air wash, and rear-tyre chatter and vibration that can rattle your teeth all the way to the dentist.
Acosta rises above it all, riding his KTM RC16 as if he’s done it his entire life. The way he maneuvers around the machine to avoid all of these hazards is amazing to watch.
How does he do it? Because he is a natural. All of the best motorcycle racers have a natural feel for their bikes, a call-and-response between man and machine. Can you hear what your motorcycle is urging you to do?
According to MotoGP and Formula 1 world champion John Surtees, motor racing is about “having a conversation between you and the machine”. If you have a natural feel for a machine, you listen to it and it tells you what it needs, and you modify yourself accordingly.
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