Brad Binder once again worked miracles with his KTM in a race where he once again distinguished himself in his mastery of the art of overtaking. Eighth on the starting grid with a swollen and painful right ankle since a fall during FP3, the South African jumped to fourth at the first corner. Then he held third place until two laps from the goal, before an admiring Aleix Espargaró finally found the opening to deprive him of the satisfaction of a podium. But where would Brad Binder be if he had a Ducati?
This question will never be answered since the South African is under contract KTM since his debut in Grand Prix and again until 2024. It is also with this brand that he was titled in 2016 in Moto3 in Aragon, so much so that he had the intention of marking the shot in Alcañiz: “ I like this track, I have always done well here even in the small categories and I obtained my Moto3 world champion title in Aragon in 2016 » comments Darryn's older brother. “ But in MotoGP, I have never had a faultless race. 7th place last year was my best result here so far. But I suspected that this track would suit our bike ».
Arm Binder continues: “ I gave the best of myself in the race. As is often the case, the bike was in the best condition on Sunday, better than during the two days of testing. Thanks to the team, they did a fantastic job. I think we had a great weekend here ».
Brad Binder: “ during the race I forgot the pain and started to climb back up »
Good, but still not easy: “ the fall in FP3 on Saturday slowed me down a bit, because afterwards I had problems with my right ankle swollen. But during the race, I forgot about the pain and started to climb back up. I had an incredible start and was already second after the first lap. And then I did the whole race in 3rd place ».
He finishes : " I'm very disappointed because I wasted the podium with two laps to go. I tried to fight again, but it didn't work. I was in the top three for the whole race, so it was a bit disappointing to lose the podium in the last two laps. We still have work to do. We need to take the final step so that we can soon be constantly fighting for podium places again ».
With this fourth place in Aragon, just 6,3 seconds behind the winner bastianini, the South African is five points behind in the standings championnat from the sixth position of Johann zarco on his Prima Pramac Ducati. The teammate of the KTM official, Miguel Oliveira, could not do better than eleventh. Now he is preparing for an overseas campaign, recalling the following: “ I'm excited for these Grands Prix because it's my third GP season but I will be a rookie in MotoGP there because of the two years of cancellation of all races in Asia and Australia due to the pandemic. Some other young MotoGP colleagues have never been there either“. To start with Enea Bastianini.
MotoGP Aragon J3: ranking
Credit classification motogp.com
