Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder wasn’t to be denied a maximum possible points haul at the Indonesian Grand Prix as the South African pushed from a 19th grid slot deficit to take 8th at Mandalika. Jack Miller was one of nine non-finishers at round 15 of 20.
The sapping heat remained on full tap for race day at the 2024 Grand Prix of Indonesia and the third MotoGP run around the flat and twisty Mandalika International Circuit layout. 60,000 spectators packed the parasols, caps, cream and cold drinks for a tantalizing program of racing. The 27 laps of MotoGP was the star draw and, after the adversity of Saturday, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo Jack Miller and Brad Binder aimed to cut their way through the field from the sixth and seventh rows of the grid.
Both the South African and the Australian made their customary rapid starts and Binder was quickly up to the fringes of the top ten. Miller’s race was over before it could begin with a crash through Turn 2/3. Maintaining focus in the conditions and trying to maximize tire life and speed were the priorities as much as gaining ground in the ranking for Brad.
Binder gave all he had to bring the KTM RC16 back to the pitlane with P8. Out of the pair, Binder is higher placed in the current points table in 6th while Miller is 15th in the championship.
MotoGP will get fast for the third weekend in a row and the team and riders will fly north to Japan and the cooler climate of Motegi for the next challenge this week.
Brad Binder, 8th: “A tricky one for us today. We made some changes this morning and tried something quite different but it was clear in the race that I didn’t quite have the margin to push. I was running wide a lot. I had to try to be clever with the front tire pressure and tucked behind a rider. It’s been a long weekend and I’m looking forward to see how we’ll manage in Japan next week.”
Jack Miller, DNF: “I got away to a good start and threaded the needle in Turn 1 like I could but then for the change of direction into Turn 3 I had a load of bikes right ahead of me, and had to grab the brakes. It was the first time on the lefthand side of the tire and it was a bit much on the first lap. It is just one of those things that can happen. I was in the middle of the group so a massive apology to the others that went down also. We have to look to Japan now. It’s been a good track for us in the past. We’ll see what we can do because yesterday here I felt our speed was decent.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Bittersweet day because of Jack’s crash in the second corner and it involved some other riders, which can happen, so we apologize to those guys and their teams. A good race for Brad recovering eleven positions. It was all he could do today. Ready for Japan now. Hopefully we’ll have both riders making it to the checkered flag!”
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