his dealings with the media soon
afterward—were befitting of a
35-year-old veteran rather than a
19-year-old in just his third visit to
the Sepang International Circuit.
It was hard to know what
aspect of the test was most
impressive of the Spaniard's
test. Was it the fact he ended the
official test ninth, 0.058 of a sec
-
ond off Brad Binder, the fastest
KTM? Or perhaps it was how he
lowered his personal best time
of 1 minute, 59.385 seconds
on the first day of the three-day
Shakedown to 1 minute, 57.365
seconds on the final day of the
official test—an improvement of
2.02 seconds.
In some ways, it was how
Acosta appeared to take all
attention directed toward him
and his immediate speed in his
stride. Asked if the heightened
expectations led to increased
pressure, the GasGas Factory
Racing Tech 3 man quipped,
"Pressure is only a word."
"I've lived the last three years
of my life with pressure every
day—it's become quite normal,"
he said. "Anyway, we cannot
be focused on testing. So [let's]
keep calm."
Even Marquez was impressed.
"It might take more time or less,"
said the eight-time World Cham
-
pion after the test's completion.
"But he'll be fighting for the
championship sooner or later."
KTM AND APRILIA IM-
PROVED—BUT STILL TRAILING
Acosta's performance was just
one of many pleasing aspects
for KTM, who had previously
struggled at the first test of the
year. The factory brought a num
-
ber of aerodynamics upgrades,
a new engine, with a different
note to the four other factories,
WIND
IN THE
P32
Fabio Quartararo was the
fastest of the Yamahas in 11th.
Quartararo was complaining of
similar issues from last year,
which hindered the Yamahas
throughout the last season. Still,
the Yamaha showed signs of
improvement.
