Red Bull KTM Factory Racing fired back to MotoGP front-running prominence as Brad Binder captured 5th position in qualifying at Motegi for the sixteenth Grand Prix of the season. The South African was fastest on Friday but then suffered an electronic issue in the Saturday Sprint. The 12-lap race saw teammate Jack Miller make a five-place gain to rank 8th and seal two championship points.
The final part of the current MotoGP triple header brought the series from Emilia Romagna in Italy to Indonesia and then to the cool and changeable climate of Motegi for the annual trip to Japan. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing began the second overseas Grand Prix of the current flyaway stint in fast form as Brad Binder headed Practice to make an emphatic entry to Q2. Jack Miller was very close also on Friday but a tumble in the last moments of Practice meant he missed the direct cut by 0.030.
Saturday was again overcast and with occasional flurries of rain that affected the pushes through Q1 and Q2. Brad was 0.6 of a second from Pole which was good enough for P5 and the middle of the second row. Jack could not jump out of Q1 and took to the grid in 14th. The track was lightly damp for the 12-laps of the Japanese Sprint. Binder and Miller pulled off more strong starts to tuck into their respective disputes. Brad had to pull out of the race with a technical issue on the third lap and while located in the top five. Jack had a busy race inside the top ten and with four other riders: the Australian was less than half a second from P7 at the flag.
Jack Miller, 14th in qualification, 8th in the Sprint: “Qualifying was what is was: the same pace I had been doing all weekend. We made a radical change for the Sprint and it worked a bit better for me. I could fight in the group there. I need to try and understand the tire drop a bit better because it was closing on me quite a bit. It was hard to fully commit to the corners. We have some work to do.”
Brad Binder, 5th in qualification, DNF in the Sprint: “Cool to be on the second row and I got a decent start. I was just figuring everything out when unfortunately we had a small electronic malfunction and that meant the race was over. Luckily, we have tomorrow to try again. This track suits our bike very well and the hard braking zones is where we are strong and can make up time. It would be good if we can take advantage of that on Sunday.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “A wonderful Friday for Brad with P1 and direct Q2 where he then took a good 5th place in uncertain conditions. It was far from easy with the mix between wet and dry and he didn’t quite find the right window to push but it was good enough for the second row. A good start as usual for him in the Sprint but unfortunately a technical issue did not allow him to fight until the end. We need to check what happened and solve it. Jack was struggling a bit in qualifying but he made a super-start and took some Sprint points. It could be better for him but we have to start from somewhere and points today hopefully also means points for tomorrow.”
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