RED BULL KTM GETS DOUBLE PODIUM AT JEREZ

Race Overview

Cooler temperatures and cloudier skies greeted fans as rain poured into the Circuit de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España.

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The Race

The Red Bull KTM trio lined up for the 25-lap Grand Prix race. Starting from the qualifying positions of 2nd (Miller), 4th (Binder), and 6th (Pedrosa) the KTM RC16s were prominently placed into the first corner in the first lap.

After a good start, the race was forced into a restart after a collision in Turn 2, the RC16s again 1-2 from the ‘off’ and for the 24-lap chase.

Both riders swapped positions among each other, Binder was the main pace setter as Miller had his hands full with Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin chasing him.

Bagnaia was in strong form as he took the lead with four laps to go. Binder attacked hard and set his fastest lap on the final circulation.

Binder tried his best, but eventually, the margin at the top was a narrow 0.2 of a second at the flag. Miller fended off Martin to come home in 3rd.

South African Rider Brad Binder leads 18 of 24 laps and finishes 0.2 away from his first Grand Prix win of the season.

Binder has surged up to 3rd in the world championship standings. Miller is 4th and just 13 points behind. KTM is 2nd in the Constructors table and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing holds the same slot in the Teams’ competition.

 

Brad Binder, 2nd: “Today was fantastic. So happy to get a solid podium and to be out front leading the race. I kept seeing that I had a little gap, so I thought I had done the job and had to look after my rear tire…but I think I cooked it a bit with three-four laps to go. It is what it is, but I managed my best lap of the race right at the end trying to get Pecco: hats off to him. Thanks to my team and to everyone for their support. We’ll try again next week.”

Jack Miller, 3rd: “I had to work for that one today! I had a great start and, like most of the boys, I was struggling with the right side of the tire by mid-race. I don’t quite know how but we started putting in some really fast laps at the end and I just couldn’t quite close up to two in front. Brad rode awesome, so did Pecco, there was some fun racing going on and I’m stoked to be a part of it and put Red Bull KTM up here again. It’s an amazing feeling and I hope we are here to stay.”

Dani Pedrosa, 7th: “I can keep two things from this weekend. One is the technical side and all the things I can tell the test team and we can keep in mind for the next stage our of work. There is also the amazing results by the guys! The second thing is how the people were with me: it was unbelievable, and I was overwhelmed! I just tried to give my best and I hope the fans liked it. I think we are getting stronger as a project and the bike is improving step-by-step.”

Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “What a weekend. We started the Grand Prix in the good way with Dani and then the Quali went perfect, we won the Sprint race and today was amazing. We did something special: both riders fighting for victory, leading most of the way and taking two spots on the podium. Personally, I want to thank every single person involved in this project. We are all super-committed but we are also under pressure because there is such a short time to show our potential each GP. Time goes so fast so I’m glad we are starting to show something important. We had red flags and even rain at one stage so it was an intense weekend here. The technicians, designers, mechanics, riders, the test team; thanks everyone for these incredible results. We are looking forward and we are confident.”

 

Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España photographs can be found HERE

 

Results MotoGP Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España

  1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 39:29.085
  2. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.221
  3. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1.119

 

World Championship standings MotoGP

  1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati, 87 points
  2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Ducati, 65
  3. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 62
  4. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 49