US MotoGP™: Brad finishes 13th
Krugersdorp's Brad Binder remains optimistic despite placing 13th at the Grand Prix of the Americas.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had good reason to view the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas with strong cause for optimism considering the increased competitiveness and continued progression with the current RC16 motorcycle.
Jack Miller was holding a podium position at Circuit of the Americas (COTA) until a mid-race slip while Brad Binder was also among the fastest on track in Texas until he also had to recover from an error and still made the flag in 13th place.
Also read: Top 7 heroics by Brad at Austrian MotoGP ™
The stifling heat of COTA on Saturday, April 15 had blown away in a stiff breeze to be replaced by sunshine and colder temperatures for the Grand Prix distances on Sunday. Jack and Brad throttled their KTM RC16s from the fourth row of the grid and for the 20-lap distance and it was Jack who made the sharper start around the long 20-corner layout.
Also read: Top 12 spot, more MotoGP™ points for Brad in US
Jack was holding a clear 3rd position when he lost control through the chicane and slid out of the reckoning at mid-race distance. Brad was making progress from the depths of the top ten as the group disputing positions for the top five began to close up and narrow. Brad spun out through Turn 15 only a few laps after Miller had departed the race. He was able to pick up the bike and rally to 13th for 3 valuable points.
Brad said, “The whole weekend here in Austin has been a lot more positive than we might have expected beforehand, based on our experiences here in the last years. I wasn’t super-happy yesterday but I managed 5th which was fantastic. Today I had high hopes but unfortunately, I switched my line going into Turn 1 at the start and it was a big mistake on my part. I ended up getting caught in the chaos on the first lap. I tried my best. I struggled with the front tire up until a few laps before I crashed.
“At that moment I was confident and started to push. Then it just snapped away from me on one of the little left-handers. Luckily, I was able to remount and we still got three points.
As frustrating as today was, we are not walking away empty-handed. For me, it was also a lesson, especially from my mistake at the start. At Jerez, we will go a hell of a lot better.”
After three of 21 rounds, Brad is 9th in the championship standings while Miller is close in 12th. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will be able to go for trophies again at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Gran Premio MotoGP Guru by Gryfyn de España in two weeks.
