Binder chuffed with fifth place finish in MotoGP sprint race

Red Bull KTM rider Brad Binder could not repeat his MotoGP heroics from Argentina in Austin on Saturday, but still managed to finish a very credible fifth in the sprint race of the Grand Prix of the Americas.

The 10-lap shootout at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) was won by world champion Francesco Bagnaia, followed by Alex Rins, Jorge Martin and Aleix Espargaro.

Binder started from 11th on the grid and made a good start to move up to seventh, but then dropped back to 11th only to fight his way through the field again.

Hard work for Brad Binder

“Today was difficult. The conditions were different to what we have had so far this weekend and the grip level changed a lot,” Binder told the KTM website.

“The first lap was sketchy and I struggled to roll around the corners. I lost a lot of time because of that but once I had my bearings I could move forward.

“It was a hard race today but hats off to the team and my guys because we have made a big step from last year where we would have dreamed of being fifth.

“We need that last step for tomorrow and I think it will be a different story with that full race distance … but it should work in our favour.”

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Credible result

Red Bull KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti was chuffed that both of his riders scored points at the COTA after starting from so far back on the grid. Jack Miller, who started in 10th, scored the last point on offer by finishing ninth.

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“Brad built a good race pace and finished fifth although there were issues with rear grip,” said Guidotti.

“A top five was acceptable for us in the circumstances and especially because he ran wide a couple of times. The lack of rear grip affected him in the hard braking zones.

“Anyway he found good pace again and he kept his position. In general it was a good race.”

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Moving up

The five points Binder earned for finishing fifth helped him move up to 27 points to overtake Miller (26) into seventh place in the world championship standings. Martin is two points ahead of him in sixth.

The main race starts at 9 pm on Sunday.

Brad Binder’s younger brother Darryn Binder is ruled out of Sunday’s Moto2 race after fracturing his right hand during a crash in Saturday free practice.