The British Grand Prix fired the 2024 MotoGP season back into life for the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 team and both Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez tackled qualification and an exciting 10-lap Sprint at a cloudy Silverstone today. Acosta grabbed the best result with a 5th place finish on the GASGAS RC16.
A three-week summer break in the current MotoGP campaign provided the championship with a moment to breathe, evaluate and restock ahead of a sequence of Grands Prix that will visit Austria, Spain and Italy in the following two months, starting with the trip to Silverstone for round ten.
Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 came to the lengthy and flat 18-corner, 5.9km course aiming to restart their season at speed, and to take part in the 75th anniversary celebrations. Pedro Acosta had only competed at the venue twice in his career and again needed to find his MotoGP references at the site. The Spaniard narrowly missed Q2 direct entry on Friday but then blasted Q1 during a cool and overcast morning session to rank 2nd and have another shot. After the 15 minutes of Q2 Pedro was 9th for the third row. Fernandez worked diligently to improve his pace and feeling on the #37 race bike and was 7th in the Q1 classification, a slender half a second from the cut to Q2. The result gave the former Moto2 world champ 17th on the grid.
The Sprint lasted for 10 intense laps – half the Sunday race distance – and both Acosta and Fernandez eyed the top ten for Saturday points. By the time of the checkered flag it was Acosta who placed higher up the rankings with 5th position. Pedro thrust his GASGAS into contention and contact with Brad Binder shredded most of his left aerodynamic structure, making the Sprint even harder. The reigning Moto2 world champ toughed out the distance for a worthy finish. Fernandez scrapped for positions on the edge of the top ten and crossed the line in 13th.
In order to get underway at the same 14.00 CEST hour on Sunday, the MotoGP contest will set-off at 13.00 local time and will lay rubber for 118km (73.3 miles) or 20 laps.
Pedro Acosta, 9th in qualifying, 5th in the Sprint: “We are getting our pace again and this was like our Sprint races earlier this season. Even though we had problems like the contact with Brad, losing the wing and then a lot of shaking with the bike, I think we managed things quite well and in the best way.”
Augusto Fernandez, 17th in qualifying, 13th in the Sprint: “A better day today. We improved things but we’re still struggling a little. We need to work some more with the rear tire because we miss some grip. If we can find that then I think we might be able to fight for something interesting tomorrow; points and maybe the top ten.”
Nicolas Goyon, GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3 Team Manager: “A good day at Silverstone today for both our riders and they are back in the game after two tricky rounds. Pedro has a decent quali and made the third row even though he did the lap-time with a tire from Q1, so quite promising and he finished in the top five in the Sprint. A good performance because riding the bike was difficult for most of the race due to the contact he’d had. We’re happy for Augusto. He had interesting pace this morning and it was positive for him to finish 13th. Let’s build on this and try for better tomorrow.”
