“Who’s to say it won’t happen again?” - Pedro Acosta frustrations deepen after latest KTM tech dramas

Having already been frustrated by an unreliable bike in recent issues, Pedro Acosta encountered yet more issues on Saturday at Assen

Pedro Acosta continued to put pressure on KTM to find fixes after a stuck throttle issue added to the manufacturer’s recent technical woes during the Dutch Grand Prix weekend.

Acosta suffered two similar technical problems on Saturday at Assen, stopping on track in the final practice before being hit by reliability issues again during qualifying.

This left him a distant eighth on the grid for the two races and compromised his chances in the sprint, where he could finish only ninth behind the Tech3 bike of Enea Bastianini.

These were the latest in a series of mechanical gremlins affecting KTM, including a sudden electrical problem in Barcelona that triggered a collision with Alex Marquez in Barcelona and a different issue that forced Acosta out of the Czech GP.

Earlier on Saturday, KTM team boss Aki Ajo denied that something was wrong with Acosta’s bike, insisting the issues he faced at Assen were caused by a sensor being triggered over the kerbs.

Acosta, however, wasn’t impressed by the situation, describing the stuck throttle he suffered as a safety issue.

“It's hard to understand what happened,” the Spaniard told DAZN. “It seems like it was a sensor, but the first time, too, the throttle got stuck.

“They need to look into something, because there have been a lot of technical problems from Barcelona all the way here. And above all, when the throttle gets stuck, you have to start thinking that something is wrong.

“Today’s issues are new. It’s just that both were the same issue. And in one of those instances, the throttle got stuck.

“When this starts to become a safety issue, I think it’s time to really get it checked out. It seems like today’s issue has some explanation, but I still don’t have an answer for what happened in Brno. Who’s to say it won’t happen again?”

Asked if he had ever suffered a stuck throttle before, he added: "No, and I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else, because I think it’s the worst feeling you can experience on a motorcycle. But anyway, since new things keep coming up every day, it’s a bit hard to understand.”

Acosta made an uncharacteristic error on the second lap of the sprint, running wide at Turn 7 and dropping to 15th. He managed to break into the top 10 after an impressive recovery ride, but ultimately came away from the day with a solitary point.

The 22-year-felt he was riding blind after issues in the morning sessions left him with limited track time.

"I think this was probably the day I've done the fewest laps in MotoGP. It was a tough day,” he said. “The sprint race was the result of not getting any laps in all day. What can you expect to go right when you've only done six valid laps all day? Our pace wasn’t a disaster; the overtaking was good.

"I think I could have been in the group with Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini, but with all the problems, making a mistake is the most natural thing in the world.”