Third in the first round behind Jack Miller et Andrea Dovizioso, it is at the end of the sixth loop that Pol Espargaro took first place in the Austrian Grand Prix. He increased his lead over the Australian to 0.252 on the seventh lap, then to 0.499 at the end of the eighth, shortly before the race was red-flagged with a narrow escape from tragedy. Although traumatized like his colleagues, Pol took the second start in pole position, until he crashed alongside Miguel Oliveira.
The two RC16 drivers were then respectively fifth and sixth almost halfway through the race. “The fact that we were then so weak in the second race compared to the first is due to the fact that we no longer had a medium rear tire at our disposal,” Espargaro said.
“It was everyone's mistake: me, the team, KTM. None of us anticipated that the race would be stopped. »
The situation was not easy for Mike Leitner, the Red Bull KTM Race Manager, who declared at the end of the event propso collected by Ivo Schützbach from the site Speedweek. com : “This GP went like a roller coaster. Pol had the first race under control. He had the right tire, the lead and the right tactics. The accident then destroyed that rhythm, but we were really lucky that no one was seriously injured and that was a very positive thing. »
If KTM recently experienced a great moment with its first victory in MotoGP, with Brad Binder in the Czech Republic, there were other facts more difficult to bear, such as the collision between the two RC16s of Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira, into the first corner at Jerez. Again, two KTMs eliminated each other on the Red Bull Ring, when Pol Espargaró went too wide on a right, colliding with Miguel Oliveira, also gone too far to the outside.
“Pol didn't have the racing tire he wanted for the second start, and therefore he wasn't as strong, explained Mike Leitner. We don't really know what happened between him and Miguel, but there was a lot of bad luck. »
With its two leading horses eliminated, KTM could only count on Brad Binder to score big points. But the South African having only qualified seventeenth, we only had to count on a miracle.
Ninth on the starting grid for the second race, Brad moved to eighth after the first lap. Álex Rins fell, as did Pol Espargaró and Miguel Oliveira, which allowed Binder to finish just off the podium.
“Brad finished the weekend in style despite his position on the starting grid,” Leitner said. “ 4th place is a good result for a rookie who is in his first MotoGP race at the Red Bull Ring. »
“We are very happy for him. We always saw his potential. Overall, KTM had a great weekend, especially in the other categories. »
“On the one hand, I am quite satisfied, but on the other hand, I was very lucky,” recognized Brad. “Today the situation was much better than we expected. Things turned out well, but let's still work for next weekend. »
Photos © Polarity Photo for KTM
