Red Bull KTM Factory Racing endured a bright but windy and demanding Australian Grand Prix and the opening stint of another world championship ‘triple header’. The team were rewarded with 7th place thanks to Brad Binder while home hero Jack Miller was able to grab five points with P11.
The swirl of brisque spring weather conditions continued to make life a challenge for the teams and riders at Phillip Island. A dry, mild climate had been a rarity across the weekend with frequent showers, chilly winds and strong gusts adding to the adversity of the spectacular and scenic circuit southeast of Melbourne. Thankfully race day was sunny.
Brad Binder and Jack Miller started from 11th and 16th places on the grid of 21 riders and were keen to repeat their excellent starts from the Saturday Sprint where Binder reached as high as P4 and Miller up to P8. The 27-lap race distance meant careful conservation of rear tire grip across the newish asphalt was key and forced a pacing strategy. Binder traded positions inside the top five in the first phases while Miller’s urgency to regain ground found him close to a brilliant start but a tangle with another rider into Doohan corner meant another fightback lay in store.
As the race unfolded it was the South African who notched the better classification as Brad kept plugging away for P7. His Aussie teammate made it to the flag in a creditable 11th, considering the scaled of his flight from the rear of the pack. The nine points added to Brad’s tally keep him 5th in the world championship standings. Jack holds 14th while KTM remain 2nd in the Constructors World Championship.
MotoGP will move to a markedly different climate this week. The Chang International Circuit in Buriram will host the Thai Grand Prix and round eighteen next weekend.
Brad Binder, 7th: “I tried my best from the beginning until the end. This morning we put in a different aero package for the dry conditions and the bike was turning a bit better. That was good and positive for the race and we could try to carry a bit more speed. I managed to stick with the boys for a while but when they dropped the pace at the end I couldn’t quite go with them. We learned a lot this weekend and we made another small step but obviously we need more to get closer.”
Jack Miller, 11th: “I got a mega jump in the inside I would have nearly been top six into Turn 1 but Alex Marque turned in on me and then we were hooked and went to last position. I fought my way back but with three to go the front went and then you had to start relying on the rear to bring her round. I was doing what I could to battle with those boys but couldn’t do much more. The pace was decent but it would have been nice to have built on that start.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “A step better than yesterday. Brad was just off the leading group and lost a bit of confidence with the rear tire in the last two laps which stopped him fight for that 4th place but it was a good race with a lot of overtaking and a strong pace also. Jack had very good start but he ran into some traffic on the first corner. He recovered and managed to get near the top ten. He deserved more because his pace was better.”
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