“It’s awful we acted as if nothing happened”

KTM star Pedro Acosta hit out at the race direction’s decision to restart the Catalan Grand Prix for a third time after both Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco were hospitalised due to serious crashes.

Acosta was leading the field when he suddenly lost power on the stretch between Turn 9 and 10. Gresini rival Marquez was running right behind his countryman and had no time to react, with a high-speed impact sending him uncontrollably over the grass and slamming into the ground.

While Acosta himself was able to escape unscathed, Marquez – who was reported to be conscious – had to be taken to the hospital for further checks.

A second incident followed immediately at the restart, with Zarco getting tangled up in Francesco Bagnaia’s Ducati in a frightening three-way incident at Turn 1. Zarco also remains in the hospital to undergo scans on his left leg.

Acosta, who had controlled much of the race amid the chaos, questioned whether it was appropriate to restart the grand prix for a third time amid two incidents in quick succession.

“‘There’s not much to say about today’s race. The most important thing is that we know Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco are okay, as well as everyone else who crashed. Once again, we’ve had a Sunday that could have ended very badly,” he told Spanish broadcaster DAZN.

 “It’s not the most pleasant feeling in the world. When something like what happened today occurs, it’s really awful that we act as if nothing happened and go out on track as normal.

“Even as MotoGP riders, who already have some experience with these things. I understand that we have to go out after a red flag, but after the second one… I don’t really agree that we should go out and race again after two red flags. 

“If two nasty things have already happened in the same race, I don’t think there’s much point in going out again. I think people’s health comes before the show.”

Acosta was engaged in a tense duel with Marquez for the lead of the race, with Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez also in tow, when his bike gave up on him on lap 12 of 24.

Several other riders were also hit by flying debris, with eventual race winner Fabio di Giannantonio going down at Turn 10 after being struck by an errant wheel.

Explaining what happened, Acosta said: “It seems it was an electronic fault; it was as if the bike suddenly cut out, and everything stopped working. The throttle stopped responding, and it caught me just as I was tucking into the fairing. 

“The loss of power itself sent me flying forward, and between trying to get my hand out and all that, riding so close, well, the worst possible thing happened.”

After losing the lead with three laps to go, di Giannantonio also dropped behind Joan Mir and Fermin Aldeguer into fourth.

However, his race ended at the final turn after Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura hit him in the final corner – an incident for which the Japanese was handed a three-second time penalty.

Acosta accepted Ogura’s apology, saying: “That’s just part of racing. We’ve all been there – going a lap too far. He came over, apologised, and waited a long time for me to come out of the pits. I take my hat off to him for showing a bit of humility.”

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– The Autosport.com Team