Brad Binder’s Red Bull KTM team downplayed the Austrian outfit’s dismal MotoGP race at the Grand Prix of the Americas on Sunday, saying that it’s not as bad as it looks.
There is no denying it does look pretty bad for KTM.
Binder only managed to finish 12th after starting from 17th on the grid, while his teammate Miguel Oliveira started in 20th and finished outside the points in 18th place.
The result saw Binder drop from second to sixth in the MotoGP world championship after the first four of 21 races.
“I don’t think it is as bad and what we see in the results. Today especially we found some good points and maybe we were a bit too conservative on the first day and stretched our problems,” said Francesco Guidotti, the Red Bull KTM team manager on Sunday.
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“Brad nearly finished ninth but had a moment with [Johann] Zarco with two laps to go and lost two positions because of this contact. We will analyze why we had a hard time here this weekend and will be a bit more aggressive for the next Grand Prix.”
Binder could not hide his disappointed after the race. The South African rider, who earned four points on Sunday to move up to 42 points, trails championship leader and the winner in Austin Enea Bastianini of Spain by 19 points.
“I’m not happy at all to finish 12th because I got up into the battle for ninth and ended up tagging the back of a rider and falling back again. There were two laps to go and I couldn’t get back,” said Binder.
“It’s been a tough weekend but we managed to salvage some points. Let’s see what we can do at the next one.”
Brad’s younger brother Darryn Binder also found the going tough at the Circuit of the Americas. The Yamaha rider started in 24th place and finished the race in 22nd place.
Darryn is 19th in the championship on six points.
The MotoGP road show now moves to Europe for the next 12 races, the first of which takes place in Portugal on 24 April.
To see the full 2022 MotoGP calendar, click here.