Final sprint
Fabio Di Giannantonio and Pedro Acosta were the protagonists of a beautiful duel in the final phase of the French GP at Le Mans, which was competing for the fourth position. Acosta had long been in contention for the podium, but in the last laps the Spanish KTM rider lost position after position, being overtaken in succession first by Jorge Martin and then by Ai Ogura. In the end, the VR46 rider also managed to outsmart the ‘Shark’, right at the last corner. However, Acosta did not take this defeat in the sprint well, especially the fact that Di Giannantonio, after completing the maneuver, – according to the #37 of KTM – “turned to look at him”.
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One look too many
The images broadcast on TV gave the impression that the VR46 rider mainly wanted to check Acosta’s position to avoid being outsmarted, but Pedro, interviewed by Spanish journalists in the traditional post-race media scrum, did not seem understanding towards his rival: “I don’t know if today’s result was the best I could have achieved – Acosta admitted – maybe fourth place would have been, but I thought Di Giannantonio was closer than he actually was and I went out more defensively than I should have“, Acosta admitted.
“This backfired on me because [Di Giannantonio] overtook me at the end. Clearly, we were not able to fight for the podium with the Aprilias. They set a frightening pace – the Spaniard confirmed – especially Martín and Ogura who came from behind. We have to be realistic about our position and we have to be happy because it is my best result at Le Mans since I have been in MotoGP“.
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Then came the Acosta’s jab at Diggia: “The overtake? I insist, I thought he was closer, but I will remember it for next time. No one overtakes me while looking at me – he added, referring to the fact that the Italian turned around after overtaking him – we will see each other at the next race“. The appointment will be in Barcelona, in six days, for the Sprint and the two, among other things, are currently separated in the standings by just one point in favor of the Italian.
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