Pedro Acosta Braces for Q2 Recovery After Qatar Practice Setback

KTM factory rider Pedro Acosta believes the only way is up after his unexpected failure to advance directly to Qualifying 2 for the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Spaniard struggled for speed on the soft rear tyre and was unable to match his usual pace, finishing Friday evening’s practice session in 14th place.

It was only the third occasion this season that KTM’s rising star has been unable to secure a direct spot into Q2. The previous two occurrences happened earlier in the year at the Italian and Spanish Grands Prix.

In both of those races, he managed to recover enough on Saturday to progress into Q2 via Q1, leaving him hopeful that conditions will improve for the upcoming sessions.

“First thing tomorrow, we’ll try to turn things around,” he said in his Spanish media briefing. “Because it can’t get any worse than today.”

Acosta elaborated in his English interview, noting that he only faced challenges on the soft tyre used for fast lap times. He had been inside the top five early in the session, as well as during Free Practice 1, when the field largely ran on medium tyres.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images

“I was expecting it to be a really tough weekend when we arrived, but something strange happened. I was showing good pace with the medium rear tyre, yet the new soft proved a complete disaster for time‑attack runs.

“I think we have to investigate this because, as I said, I was fast on the medium but really slow on the soft.

“I was missing a lot of grip, and the stopping performance with the rear tyre was also very low. Even compared to a medium rear that was 10‑12 laps old, the new soft tyre was unusually poor.”

Acosta declined to provide further details about the issue that caused him to pull off the track during the first session of the day, describing it merely as an “electronic issue”.

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