Pedro Acosta withdraws from the race at Assen—the reason isn’t technical, but rather a physical issue he’s been dealing with for some time
Pedro Acosta’s KTM experienced technical problems again at Assen, particularly on Saturday. His motorcycle stalled both during free practice before qualifying and in Q2.
His preparation for the Sprint was therefore far from ideal, as he was only able to complete a few laps. In the Sprint, Acosta ultimately finished ninth and earned one World Championship point.
The Spaniard also retired from the Grand Prix. At the start of the 13th lap, Acosta went off the track and then slowly returned to the pits, where he parked the KTM. This time, however, it wasn’t a technical issue.
As soon as he went off the track, the 22-year-old was shaking his right hand. “It’s not arm pump,” he insists, explaining the problem: “It’s carpal tunnel syndrome.”
Carpal tunnel syndrome is a compression of the median nerve in the wrist area, which causes tingling, numbness, pain, and sometimes even loss of strength in the thumb, index finger, and middle finger.
“It’s something in my wrist that’s taking away my sensation,” says Acosta. “It’s worse on some sections and better on others, but I was already having problems in the sprint starting on lap three.”
“But at least I more or less knew where the brake lever was. But today, riding behind Marc, I sometimes released the brake so as not to touch him, because I couldn’t even really feel whether I had the lever in my hand at all.”
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That’s why Acosta decided to retire from the Grand Prix to avoid the risk of a crash. This numbness in his right hand isn’t new—it actually occurred last year as well.
“If you recall, last year at Motegi I went wide into the gravel trap at Turn 1. That was because there came a point where I lost all feeling and the lever just slipped out of my fingers.”
“Today was perhaps the worst case I’ve ever had. That’s why there came a point during my last overtaking attempt in Turn 1 when I went wide to the outside—otherwise I would have hit Marc head-on.”
“It’s pretty strange when you don’t even know how much pressure you’re applying to the brake. Our plan was to have the surgery after six or seven races, but now it’s better if we do it right away.”
Acosta is scheduled to undergo surgery as early as next Tuesday. Nevertheless, he expects to be able to compete in the German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring in two weeks.