Pedro Acosta felt like he was leaving KTM’s home MotoGP round at Spielberg with “pain in his chest” after unexpected problems left him trundling down in 13th place.
Although the RC16’s form has been on a decline for some time, there was a glimmer of hope that the bike would go around well at the Red Bull Ring due to its strong track record.
However, after failing to break into Q2, Tech3 GasGas rider Acosta could make little progress in the Austrian Grand Prix, recording the joint-worst result of his short MotoGP career. Although the 20-year-old also finished 13th in the Catalan GP, that was only after he suffered a crash while running second and had to remount on the bike.
Acosta made it clear that he didn’t want to sound harsh about the state of affairs for the Austrian manufacturer in the heat of the moment, but hopes to find answers behind his lack of speed in Spielberg.
"We came with enthusiasm and I leave with a pain in my chest to see how I get rid of this," he said. "Difficult, difficult to say anything. There have been a lot of problems that I didn't expect to have.
“I still don't understand why these problems have arrived, I have to sit coldly. This week I will be in Misano with the test team seeing what they test, and we will analyse it calmly, I don't want to do anything in the heat. As they say, don't make angry decisions or promise anything when you're happy."
KTM, along with Yamaha and Honda, will be at Misano from Monday to Wednesday for a private test that is conveniently scheduled less than a month before the Italian venue hosts back-to-back rounds in September.
After Pol Espargaro experimented with a number of parts on the RC16 over the Spielberg weekend as a wildcard rider, it would be Dani Pedrosa’s turn to put the manufacturer’s test bike through its paces.
Acosta is hoping that the test, which includes two days of track action and an additional set-up day, will offer some answers as to the problems he faced in Austria.
"It's going to be three interesting days, let's see if we understand why it has happened and how to avoid it," said the Spaniard, who won’t be allowed to test the MotoGP bike at Misano due to regulations.
"First of all I have to understand what has happened and why it has happened, because I want to understand. I don't know how to explain it or say what happened because I still don't understand it.
“Now let's say that the test team is taking a pretty good guide. Today we had the best track coach of the whole year, which is Dani [Pedrosa]. And quite a few of the things he has said, in my case, have worked quite well.
“As the Misano test will only be Dani, I think I will be able to look a little more at what direction they are going and understand other things, especially what has happened to me this weekend here. You also get out of difficult moments.”
Brad Binder’s fifth-place finish on the factory KTM was the only positive for the Austrian manufacturer at the Red Bull-owned circuit, although his deficit to race winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) was an astonishing 18.6s.
Acosta has been asked to apportion the bike’s role in KTM’s current struggles in MotoGP.
"I can't say how I say things. I don't have enough balls to say that the bike is bad,” he said. “We are missing little things that we have to put all together."
"We're struggling overall, even Brad Binder who finished fifth was 18 seconds behind. That from the fifth to the thirteenth there are 12 [actually 15] seconds, I understand. But from the first to the fifth 18 [seconds] is a lot of difference.
“We have to understand well what is happening. I blame myself for not making it to Q2, if I had done it now I wouldn't be here with this face, I'd be with champagne and flowers for everyone."
