Brad Binder lost the lead in the sprint race, and his problems with crashes persist in Catalunya.
Brad Binder met the same fate on Friday after a double tumble at turn two: he threw away a chance to win the MotoGP sprint race in turn five.
Shortly after Binder passed Pedro Acosta and took the lead, Paul Fernandez also lost the lead.
However, the factory KTM rider, who has been extremely quick this weekend despite his past collisions, saw his RC16’s front end wash out at turn five.
After the race, Binder expressed optimism despite suffering his third fall in two days, saying, “Today’s qualy was pretty good.” I’m overjoyed to have placed fourth. Being upfront from the beginning is usually a good idea.
“It was a wonderful start, but unfortunately I couldn’t get the bike to go into second gear after hitting the limiter in first gear. There was a small incident that I experienced.
Everything else was excellent except from that. I felt great during the race; the bike is performing really well, but sadly, the front of the bike just washed away at turn five.
I received no notice. I completed my race after finishing perhaps a little bit straighter than the previous lap. That’s just the way things are.
“Crashing out of first place is never cool, but it’s preferable to riding around in 15th place like last week.”
Remarkably, Binder acknowledged that he made a mistake when he rode more cautiously than usual.
I was backing it in a lot less than I’m used to, and obviously that put the weight in a little bit of a different spot and I washed the front,” the South African said, adding that he was trying to ride clean.
Before making his error, Binder, a KTM rider named Acosta, was in a fierce battle with him for the majority of the race. This time, he was back at the finish line of a MotoGP race and ready to take on the Ducatis.
Binder responded, “I think there are many tracks where we have advantages, maybe not as many as them, but this is a really good track for us,” when asked where he saw their advantages over the Ducati motorcycles.
“From the first race, every KTM was quick, and regardless of our setup choices, we were all competitive.
But tomorrow comes the big examination. Let’s see where we place in the competition.
