Brad Binder struggled to find pace at Mugello. Picture: Red Bull KTM
Brad Binder and his Red Bull KTM team’s struggles continued at the Italian MotoGP where they had no answer to the high-flying Ducati-brigade.
Binder did move up one spot to seventh in the world championship after earning 10 points at Mugello for finishing sixth in the sprint and 10th in the main race, but KTM was completely outpaced by the Ducatis. The top four finishers in the main race; Pecco Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin and Marc Marquez, crossed the finished line more than five seconds clear of fifth-placed Tech3 rider Pedro Acosta.
Acosta, who’ll replace Jack Miller in the KTM factory team next year, tried his best to keep up with the front-runners, but like Binder, his RC16 just didn’t have the firepower to stay in contention. Miller was failed to earn a point in Italy, finishing 12th and 16th.
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“The reality is that once we started rolling we just didn’t have the pace to go with the guys in front,” Binder told the KTM website after the race.
“I tried my best but when I started to push I kept losing the front and couldn’t hold the line well.”
After qualifying in a disappointing 13th place, Binder made a sensational start in the sprint race on Saturday to put himself into podium contention on the first lap. But as the race progressed, he couldn’t match Bagnaia and Marquez at the front.
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“Overall, he improved a lot in terms of race speed from last year but the leading group improved even more. The amount of time is crazy. Almost twenty seconds!” said Red Bull KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti.
Bagnaia recorded a double in Italy to move up to 153 points and close the gap to Martin (151) to 18 points. Marquez (134) is in third, followed by Bastianini (114), Acosta (101), Maverick Vinales (100) and Binder (85).
Brad Binder’s younger brother Darryn Binder was in contention for his best-ever Moto2 finish before crashing out from fourth place. The Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP rider is 24th in the title race o five points.
MotoGP takes a three-week break after official testing at Mugello on Monday. The next race is the Dutch Grand Prix at TT Assen at the end of June.
