• Brad Binder finished the Valencia Grand Prix in fifth place.
• The South African had a difficult start but made up positions over the course of the race.
• KTM is the top brand in MotoGP with all three KTM RC16s in the top six.
• You can find more car stories at www.Wheels24.co.za
For the fifth time in MotoGP 2020, the series negotiated back-to-back meetings, with round fourteen of fifteen being played on the flat, narrow and winding Ricardo Tormo Circuit in Valencia. Red Bull KTM started the sunny, but airy Grand Prix over 27 laps with three riders in the first ten places: Pol Espargaro led the trio on his KTM RC16 in 5th place.
When the red light disappeared on Sunday afternoon, Espargaro immediately fought for the lead and then set a strong pace to third place behind the pole-sitter Franco Morbidelli and Jack Miller. The Spaniard had to deal with the pressure from Takaaki Nakagami, but then had air when the Japanese crashed on the last corner.
At the finish, Espargaro was only three seconds away from Morbidelli’s rear wheel. His third place is a repeat of his ranking from last Sunday, his fifth podium in 2020 and KTM’s seventh top 3 finish this year. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is now third in the team standings, and Espargaro himself is seventh, 16 points behind third in the drivers’ standings.
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Brad Binder (KTM media)
Cut through the pack
Just behind Espargaro, Brad Binder forged a remarkable racing speed to cut his way through the field and duel with Alex Rins. The South African was less than half a second away from the Spaniard by the checkered flag, and his rookie gave the rookie the third top 5 result of the campaign. Binder’s performance was particularly satisfactory when you consider that Valencia was the location of his very first laps with the RC16 in late 2019 and where he was several seconds behind the leading drivers. The 25-year-old was once again able to demonstrate his outstanding progress in his first season.
On the hunt for binders, Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira ended a decent week in Spain with a sixth penultimate place and fifth place at the Gran Premio de Europa last weekend. The Portuguese has now achieved four top six results from the last five races and is tenth in the championship standings.
Brad Binder: “Today was a positive race for us. I didn’t have the best starts, but I managed to find good pace, overtake a few guys and work my way forward. I did my absolute best today and unfortunately it was wasn’t enough to get us into this podium fight. Overall, I’m happy with the way we took steps this weekend, from Friday to the race. We still have a lot to learn, but we’re already looking forward to Portimao. Thanks for that Team and everyone for their hard work. We’ll push again next week. “
Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM race manager: “Two weekends and two podiums, that’s a great performance by the team and Pol, but the big thing today was all three bikes were in the top six. We are very happy with the work Brad and Miguel have done. Overall, it’s a one Kudos to the company and what a great bike they have built for 2020. We pushed for it. Many thanks to everyone for the work and motivation in the so far intense season. “
Brad Binder (KTM media)