Pedro Acosta explains Q1 relegation, hopes Jerez is worst race of 2026

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Pedro Acosta pointed to tyre grip and braking issues at Jerez after missing out on a direct place in Q2 for the first time in the 2026 MotoGP season.

Acosta was unusually off the pace during Practice for the Spanish Grand Prix, finishing a distant 15th aboard the factory KTM.

After bolting on a fresh soft rear tyre late in the session, the Spaniard lit up the timesheets on two separate occasions but failed to complete a clean lap each time. He also nearly-suffered a highside at Turn 6, the tricky right-hand hairpin which marks the heaviest braking zone at Jerez.

While Acosta managed to deliver a late improvement, it wasn’t enough for a Q2 berth, missing out by a tenth of a second to fellow KTM rider Enea Bastianini.

Explaining what went wrong on Friday, the 21-year-old suggested his struggles at Jerez could be track-specific.

“It’s hard to understand, because I only get these ‘normal’ feelings here [and not elsewhere],” he said. “Hopefully, this will be the worst grand prix of the year and then we can carry on in the vein we were in.

“I think with that tyre [that gave me the scare], for some reason, I would have made it into Q2, because I was going much faster than with the second one [the one he fitted afterwards].

“For some reason, I had more grip than on the second attempt. We need to understand what’s going on, why we’re struggling so much to brake; it seems to be our weak point on this circuit.”

Five out of six Ducatis safely progressed into Q2 on Friday, while all four full-season Aprilias were also classified inside the top 10.

That left just one spot for a non-Italian bike on the grid, which eventually went to Bastianini on the Tech3-entered RC16.

While last year’s winner Alex Marquez enjoyed a three-tenth advantage at the front aboard the Gresini Ducatis, the rest of the field was separated by fine margins.

“The fact that everything is so close makes [missing out on Q2] seem even worse, because in the end, with a two tenths of a second improvement, you could end up third,” he admitted. “But anyway, there’s work to be done for tomorrow."