Pedro Acosta says KTM has gone “backwards” in Misano:…

Pedro Acosta feels KTM has “taken steps backwards” at the San Marino Grand Prix, leaving him with a “terrifying” gap to MotoGP pacesetters Aprilia and Ducati.

After pushing reigning world champion Marc Marquez all the way to victory at Aragon last time out, Acosta slipped down the order this weekend at Misano, with the Spaniard lacking speed in both qualifying and race trim.

On Saturday morning, he ended a distant seventh on the grid, behind even the Honda of Luca Marini. From there, he made little progress in the sprint, losing time battling with Gresini’s Fermin Aldeguer en route to a lacklustre sixth place.

The gap to race winner Marquez was 6.944s at the finish, representing a deficit of more than half a second per lap across the 13-lap sprint.

Speaking after the sprint, Acosta said he has to be content with a sixth-place result in a weekend in which any attempt KTM has made to improve the RC15 has backfired.

“We’ll have to go over everything with the team. It’s been a weekend where, since yesterday, we haven’t made any progress. On the contrary, we’ve taken steps backwards,” he admitted.

“We are struggling in areas that are our only strengths. We’re really struggling with braking, which is normally where we’re strong. We need to figure out why, because it seems like all of us on KTMs are in a similar situation.”

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images)

Acosta believes a maiden MotoGP victory before his term ends at KTM might be difficult as things stand, citing the huge deficit the Austrian manufacturer faces to Aprilia and Ducati.

“I hope [we can win a race], but if we keep up this pace, it’s going to be tough,” he conceded.

“We’re giving it everything we’ve got and more. I think I’m working harder than ever, and we’re doing everything we can. But in the end, the Ducatis and Aprilias here are absolutely terrifying.

“In sections where the bike was stable last year, this year it’s moving around a lot more. On top of that, there are braking issues. So, we have to be happy with sixth place. It was either that or wrecking the bike in the gravel.

“We have to keep picking up points, and I’m close to fifth place in the championship again. I have to keep going like this, more or less.”

Acosta and Aldeguer made contact on lap 3 as the Gresini rider tried to make a move, leaving Acosta behind both Aldeguer and Alex Marquez in seventh. The 22-year-old repassed Aldeguer shortly afterwards to claim sixth, a place which he held until the finish.

The KTM rider admitted both he and Aldeguer lost time with a battle that he didn’t think was necessary, but felt that they both raced fair and square with each other.

“Adleguer and me, we were making stupid s**t around,” he quipped. “This cost us a lot of time because without this battle, both of us would have been closer to Diggia [Fabio di Giannantonio] and [Jorge] Martin at that moment.

“But the battle was fair enough. We did something positive for the fans. But that's how it was. Alex and Di Giannantonio were faster than us.”