'The guy doesn't give up' - Pedro Acosta reflects on Marc Marquez battle in Mugello

Despite being below full fitness, Marquez held off Acosta and stayed in P4 for much of the race, but late charges from Ai Ogura and Fabio Di Giannantonio saw the Spaniard slip to P7 but the end. Nonetheless, it was a satisfactory result on the 93's return from injury, he even gave the performance a 10/10 rating and explained that his shoulder was feeling considerably better now that the screw was no longer pressing on the nerve. However, he was also not afraid to admit that it would still be a few weeks before the muscles are operating back at 100% strength again.

Acosta meanwhile, who has had an inconsistent season so far and been involved in several scary incidents, finished in P6 which will be a satisfactory result given the track characteristics are not particularly favoured to KTM's bike design.

Speaking to the media after the race, Acosta gave an insight into what it was like being stuck behind the nine-time world champion for the majority of the race. In addition to the personal and sporting enjoyment of it, Acosta also believes he may have unlocked some performance secrets to take back to the KTM garage:

"At least I managed a few overtakes, which were really cool. [...] Especially because I was able to stay behind Marc for a long time and see how a champion like him can manage the race in different ways."

"The guy doesn't give up. I think it was a good battle, there were some really cool overtakes, so I hope the fans enjoyed it. Did I learn anything from him? Above all, I was trying to focus on how he managed the tire. In the end, these are things we have to improve quite a bit. [...] Being behind Marc is always interesting."

"I think we need more races like this in the championship, more competition. That will get the fans watching the races again like they used to. I hope this race also helps to get people excited."