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Motorsport

Pedro Acosta does not believe a MotoGP riders' association is viable: "We are too egocentric"

Pedro Acosta MotoGP Alex Marquez KTM Francesco Bagnaia Johann Zarco Luca Marini Catalan Grand Prix Motorsportcom

Pedro Acosta feels that a Formula 1-style rider association is not possible in MotoGP, insisting the grid is too "egocentric".

Safety of riders in MotoGP was back in the spotlight after a crash-filled Catalan Grand Prix, with both Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco suffering injuries in separate crashes.

While manufacturers and teams have their own associations to represent them, there is no collective body that looks after riders' best interests.

While riders get a chance to voice any complaints in weekly Safety Commission meetings, both Luca Marini and Francesco Bagnaia criticised the poor attendance in the build-up to the Barcelona weekend. Only three riders, Marini, Bagnaia and Jack Miller, were present at Le Mans the previous week.

Asked for his thoughts about the matter, Acosta said: "A lot of riders always come together when something of this magnitude happens or when what happened in Malaysia last year in Moto3 happened.

"I don't think you have to go every week [to the Safety Commission] because a new bump has appeared at the circuit. I don't think what happened yesterday would have been avoided with a Safety Commission meeting, I suppose now we have to see ourselves how much we want to risk our skin after these things have happened."

Alex Marquez, Gresini Racing, Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing crash (Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images)

Motorsport.com asked Acosta whether he believes that MotoGP should have an organisation similar to F1's Grand Prix Drivers Association (GPDA).

"I don't really know how the F1 one works, I don't know," he replied. "We are the ones who put on the show, and it is not enough just to be at the centre of the show, you have to look at what happens around it. It is difficult to look for a solution after so little time has passed."

However, Acosta has already become one of the leading riders on the grid, and as such faces a responsibility to play a bigger role in such situations.

"This is like everything, you stand your ground if the other 20 do," he said. "If someone is fighting for the world championship, which is not my case, but it is Marco Bezzecchi's. For example, if he had not wanted to race yesterday, but another rival rider for the title had gone to the grid, he would have followed him. You are chasing the dream of your life, if the others go out, you go out. All 20 of us would have to stand firm and say that there is no race."

With that very example validating the need for a united front, Acosta added: "It is very complicated, there is always one rider who sees an opportunity on a weekend. If you told me two hours before the race that if something happens, we won’t race. [But] for one weekend that you are in good form, I would have wanted to race.

"You have to understand that the riders, even if it may not seem like it, are quite egocentric. You’re always looking for your chances to make a big splash.”

Asked, if with the benefit of a day’s perspective, his feelings about what happened on Sunday during the accident-plagued race in Barcelona had changed, Acosta added: "I have the same point of view I had yesterday; there was no need for a third race. They should have given half the points. Holding a third race was challenging fate a bit, if there had already been two incidents that serious, there was no need to look for a third. I still think the same.

Some riders, including Joan Mir and Enea Bastianini, believe that a solution to avoid the chronic problem at Barcelona's first corner would be to move the grid forward, to prevent riders from approaching the braking point at 300km/h.

"What a solution!," the KTM rider remarked. "If the start is closer to the first corner and you mess up the start, the same thing happens to you, here and in Hungary. I don't think that is the solution.

"Zarco's thing was very bad luck, it is very difficult for what happened to him to happen to you, that his leg got caught in Pecco's [Bagnaia] bike; it is very bad luck. Alex's [Marquez], it was the same.

"It is true that at turn two, the bikes hit the wall [this weekend], and at Turn 12, where Jorge Martin crashed, too. But I think everything is quite safe here in Barcelona.

"There are circuits that are much worse. Here, at least they can move the grandstands back and make run-off areas. In Jerez, for example, you crash at turn 7, as happened to me in my first year in MotoGP, and they cannot move the grandstand further back, because the final corner is on the other side."