The Red Bull KTM Ajo team returns from Jerez with a third consecutive podium under their belt, and their best result of the season thanks to Miguel Oliveira. The Portuguese is in great form, and very happy with this result which he considers a victory. For Brad Binder, on the other hand, it was once again complicated, even if the South African remained at the forefront.
Red Bull KTM teammates Ajo had a reverse weekend. On the one hand, Miguel Oliveira had a complicated Friday and Saturday, despite the excellent news of his signing with Tech 3 in MotoGP next year.
Thirteenth in the combined times of the free sessions, he then qualified in fourteenth position: “Qualifying was very hard for me because I couldn't find the right path. I felt deep down that I had some cards to play for the race, but I couldn't qualify better than fourteenth. I knew I would have to give it my all during the race and gain positions as quickly as possible. »
But on Sunday morning, the Portuguese had the necessary trigger to succeed in his race. Third during the Warm Up, he then got off to an excellent start. At the end of the first lap, he had already moved up to seventh position, and within five laps he was second, where he crossed the finish line: “In the first laps I realized that the group in front was going away, but I thought I would be able to catch them. Fighting for victory was difficult because Baldassarri was very strong and didn't give us any chance. »
Oliveira's third consecutive podium, this second place is also his best result of the season, and had a very special flavor: « Cette deuxième place, devant tous les fans venus du Portugal pour m’encourager (c’est comme mon Grand Prix “maison”), est encore plus belle qu’une victoire à la régulière. »
On the other side there is Brad Binder, who started his weekend very well. Always at the forefront during free practice (10th in FP1, 6th in FP2 and FP3), he then qualified in fifth position, his best qualification of the year.
All the lights were green for the race, but the South African encountered unexpected difficulties and was unable to fight for the podium: “Normally I'm stronger in the race than in practice, but I don't know what happened on Sunday. I almost lost the front a lot of times (well five or six) so I was lucky to be able to finish. »
However, he was able to cross the finish line in sixth position, for the third time since the start of the season, after Qatar and Texas. Although at the front, Binder is still chasing his first podium of the season, for which he would like to fight at each Grand Prix: “It's not the result I expected because the team did a good job all weekend, and things didn't go well in the race. It's a shame not to be able to end such a good weekend with a better result. At Le Mans we will try to do more. »
