Brad Binder claimed his third MotoGP World Championship race victory following Brno 2020 and Spielberg 2021, improving to an amazing fourth place in the Riders’ Championship and surprising opponents in droves following sprinting from 15th on the grid.
“Yes, that was a bit of a surprise today, not only for me but also for my team,” admitted the South African. “I already knew from Portimão that our starts are very good. I had a very good ‘launch’ from the start line and then took a lot of risks in the first three or four corners. I tried my best to make up as many places as possible. Then when I saw that I was in third or fourth position, I shook my head and wondered if that was true. But then I convinced myself… I’m super happy now with the way everything went. My team completely rebuilt my bike following Friday practice so I felt sooo much more comfortable. I had a lot more grip. I can’t thank my boys enough for the superb job they did.”
“Now it’s regarding fighting on tomorrow and trying to repeat today’s performance, but I have to start from 15th on the grid once more. Anyway: I’m very happy to have won another race, it’s been a while since the last win because I didn’t manage one last year. And yes, the win was a bit unexpected.”
Mooney VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi put Binder under a lot of pressure on the final lap. The Red Bull KTM factory rider mightn’t afford the slightest mistake in the fourth and final sector.
“Yes, I saw ‘plus 0.5 sec’ on my pit board before the last lap. That’s why I started the last lap pretty chilled,” laughed Brad. “But at the end of the back straight I heard a bike right next to me. I thought, ‘Shit!’ I knew I now had to block the ideal line and then drove the shortest line around the track for the entire last lap. I knew that if someone wants to overtake me now, they have to come up with something very special. And when I crossed the finish line, I was speechless. I might not have imagined that something like this would happen here and now. Not from 15th place on the grid. This is unreal. Certainly!”
MotoGP result sprint, Las Termas (1.4.):
1. Brad Binder, KTM, 12 Rdn in 19:56,873 min
2. Bezzecchi, Ducati, + 0.072 sec
3. Marini, Ducati, +0.877
4. Morbidelli, Yamaha, +2,354
5. Alex Márquez, Ducati, + 2,462
6. Bagnaia, Ducati, +2,537
7. Vinales, Aprilia, +2,643
8. Martin, Ducati, +3,754
9. Quartararo*, Yamaha, + 3,856
10. Miller, KTM, + 5,143
11. Nakagami, Honda, +5,574
12. Di Giannantonio, Ducati, + 6.965
13. Zarco, Ducati, +7,568
14. Raul Fernandez, Aprilia, +7,725
15. Kidneys, Honda, +8,687
16. Augusto Fernández, KTM, + 9,040
– Aleix Espargaró, Aprilia, 4 laps behind
– Mir, Honda, 1st lap not finished
* with 1 second time penalty for overtaking with a yellow flag
Championship status following 3 of 42 races:
1. Bagnaia, 41 Punkte. 2. Viñales 28. 3. Bezzecchi 25. 4. Binder 22. 5. Alex Márquez 17. 6. Zarco 15. 7. Miller 15. 8. Martin 11. 9. Aleix Espargaró 11. 10. Quartararo 9. 11. Morbidelli 8. 12. Marini 7. 13. Marc Márquez 7. 14. Rins 6. 15. Mir 5. 16. Nakagami 4. 17. Augusto Fernández 3. 18. Oliveira 3.
Constructors’ Championship:
1.Ducati, 46 Punkte. 2. KTM 28. 3. Aprilia 28. 4. Yamaha 14. 5. Honda 13.
Team World Cup:
1. Ducati Lenovo, 41 Punkte. 2. Aprilia Racing 39. 3. Red Bull KTM 37. 4. Mooney VR46 Racing 32. 5. Prima Pramac 26. 6. Monster Energy Yamaha 17. 7. Gresini Racing 17. 8. Repsol Honda 12. 9. LCR Honda 10. 11. GASGAS Tech3 3. 12. CryptoDATA RNF 3.
