A typically blowy and challenging stage at Phillip Island for the Australian Grand Prix saw bustling comeback performances from Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. Brad Binder and Jack Miller made numerous passes to surge up the order of the Saturday Sprint but both ultimately could not reach the checkered flag in cold and windy conditions in Victoria.
MotoGP formed up on ‘hallowed’ ground in Australia for the seventeenth Grand Prix of the season and for the first meeting of another triple header that involves trips to Thailand and then Malaysia in subsequent weeks. The fast, flowing Phillip Island layout had been resurfaced for the 28th FIM World Championship fixture and since the course became the favorite for many riders after its inauguration for Grand Prix motorcycle racing in 1989.
For all its technical brilliance and wonder, the 4.5km course is routinely plagued by the unstable October climate in the Victoria state. On Friday MotoGP lost FP1 due to torrential rainfall and standing water on the track. Amazingly, Practice in the afternoon was run in dry conditions and Brad Binder was able to achieve direct Q2 status despite the lack of track time.
On Saturday morning Phillip Island was windy and cool, creating headaches for lines, braking and tire choice. Jack Miller had put a high-speed crash through the Siberia corner on Friday out of his memory banks and almost made the cut in Q1. He was less than half a second adrift after ripping around a layout that bears a corner name after him. Binder was in a determined mood through Q2 and was 11th.
Phillip Island had produced some of the closest race finishes of all-time and the action was plentiful and tense for the first ever Sprint at the venue. Binder gunned the KTM RC16 from 11th to 4th on the first lap and then nestled into a chase for points. He lost the front end tipping into Turn 4 on the penultimate lap. Miller’s charge from 16th to 8th was accompanied by cheers from the crowd and the unwanted presence of a seagull that had lodged into his bike but the run ended at Turn 10 before the home favorite could reach the finish line.
MotoGP will run for 27-laps on Sunday and with a 05.00 start time CET.
Brad Binder, 11th in qualification, DNF in the Sprint: “Not the day I had in mind. I did not put a lap together in qualifying this morning. I did my first two laps and then let the new rear tire cool down too much on the out lap and couldn’t bring it back up. I made a good start in the Sprint but then really struggled in the first laps. Once I settled and improved then we moved forwards. I felt like I was getting faster but unfortunately just locked the front heading into the hairpin. Hopefully tomorrow we’ll have a better one.”
Jack Miller, 16th in qualification, DNF in the Sprint: “It could have been a better Saturday. I had a good start in the Sprint from a not-great qualifying position and tipping into Turn 1 off the start a seagull flew into the front of the bike, which wasn’t ideal. I tried to do what I could on the first lap to get rid of it but I couldn’t so I focused on the job at hand, which was racing and it was going good.I felt comfortable and happy, the tyre was almost getting better and better. I made the pass on Brad with a gaping hole in the bike and unfortunately I went into Turn 10 with the same speed as the lap before and she just went away from me. One of those ones.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Not the way we wanted to start the weekend but it definitely was a good start to the race for both riders. Brad crashed while he was in a good position and had good pace. Jack made a super-comeback and was recovering positions. A shame for the crash. It looked like it would have been one of his best Sprint races this season. Let’s try again tomorrow.”
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