Pedro Acosta is set to undergo surgery on his wrist on Tuesday after retiring from the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix with carpal tunnel syndrome.
The factory KTM rider spent much of the day battling with the Ducati of Marc Marquez for a top-five result at Assen, having made early progress from eighth on the grid.
However, his race came to an abrupt end on lap 13 of 26 when he slowed down heading into Turn 1 and eventually pulled into the pits to retire.
While it initially appeared as though a mechanical problem was the root cause of his troubles, TV images showed him in visible discomfort as he violently shook his right hand.
Speaking after the race, the Spaniard explained that he has been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome – a condition caused by the suppression of the median nerve in a narrow passageway on the palm.
This left his wrist numb during the race, making it impossible to manipulate the right lever on his bike.
While an operation had originally been planned in the summer break, the events of this weekend’s Assen round have forced him to bring it forward and schedule it in the gap before the German GP on 5 July.
“I think on some tracks it is worse and on some tracks it is better,” he said. “Yesterday already, I was suffering from lap 3, but more or less, I knew where the lever was.
“But today, behind Marc, sometimes I had to just release the brake to not hit him because I didn’t even know if I had the lever in my hand. On Tuesday, we will have a surgery to try to take out this problem. It’s something in the wrist, that doesn’t let me have feeling in the wrist.”
Acosta revealed that he had been suffering from the condition since 2025, although it’s only now that it has worsened to a point that it requires surgery.
“One year ago, if you remember last year in Motegi, I went wide in the gravel at Turn 1,” he said. “This was because I arrived at one moment where I have no more feeling and I just lost the lever from the finger.
“Today, maybe it was the worst case that I ever had. Our idea was to take surgery after Sachsenring, but it’s better that we do it now.”
Asked if he expects to make a recovery before next month’s Sachsenring race, he added: “It will be OK if everything goes OK.”
Pedro Acosta, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose Photography / Getty Images
Acosta endured a tough weekend at Assen, scoring just one point across the two races.
Two sensor-related technical issues severely limited his running on Saturday morning and left him eighth on the grid, further compromising his chances of scoring a big haul of points.
Asked if there were any positives from the weekend, he said: “Nothing. Between the technical issues that we have on Saturday and then this thing of the hand, it’s better to forget.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
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