Pedro Acosta loses COTA MotoGP Sprint podium
Pedro Acosta loses COTA Sprint podium due to a tyre pressure penalty, Enea Bastianini promoted to third.
Pedro Acosta has been stripped of third place in Saturday’s US MotoGP Sprint race due to a post-race tyre pressure penalty.
The Red Bull KTM rider received the standard eight-second sanction, dropping him to eighth place, after failing to meet the required 30% of laps above the minimum pressure.
The penalty promotes fellow RC16 rider Enea Bastianini into a surprise rostrum, the Italian’s best result since last year’s Catalunya round.
But the penalty rubs further salt into the wounds of Joan Mir after the Honda rider crashed out of fourth place, ahead of Bastianini, on the very final lap.
The race was won by Aprilia’s Jorge Martin, who used the extra grip from his medium rear tyre to execute a last-lap pass on Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia.
Martin now leads the standings from team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, who crashed out of second in the Sprint.
Acosta retains third in the MotoGP world championship, ahead of COTA pole qualifier Fabio di Giannantonio, who failed to finish after being taken down on the opening lap by Marc Marquez.
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Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
