• Brad Binder had a tough weekend during the recent Dutch Grand Prix.
• The South African qualified second last, but managed to secure 12th place in the race.
• Binder is currently ninth in the championship.
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Miguel Oliveira was the standout KTM RC16 racer at the Motul TT Assen Grand Prix, and the ninth round of 2021 MotoGP, as the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider ran to the fifth position in the Netherlands.
18 bends, flicks and dips formed the challenge presented by the TT Circuit Assen and one of the pillars of Grand Prix racing. The upheaval of the pandemic-influenced 2020 schedule meant that the championship missed the Dutch stop and passionate collective of MotoGP fans last summer.
Miguel Oliveira came to the Netherlands hunting a fourth consecutive podium finish after classifying as runner-up in both Italy and Germany and seizing victory in Spain. The Portuguese began the 26-lap 118km distance from sixth on the grid. Tech3 KTM Factory Racing pair Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona blasted from 13th and 18th, respectively, while Brad Binder had to bustle back from the 21st.
Brad Binder
Reasonable progress
Oliveira held onto the group running for podium positions behind breakaway leader Fabio Quartararo. He was fifth and jostling for space with Joan Mir and Johann Zarco until the trio dispersed, and he had to settle with five laps to go.
Binder, who had made reasonable progress from the final row, took 12th. Tech3 KTM Factory Racing’s Danilo Petrucci gathered three points for passing the flag in 13th place. Iker Lecuona crashed into the final chicane with seven laps remaining and with the chance of posting one of his strongest results of the season. 26-year-old Oliveira has made strong gains in the championship standings and now sits seventh with only 24 points adrift of third. Binder is next on the list in ninth.
MotoGP now enters a summer break with a hiatus lasting until the first two weekends of August. The Grands Prix of Styria and Austria will take place at the Red Bull Ring for a high-speed double header to start the second half of the season.
READ: Fabio Quartararo wins 2021 Dutch MotoGP, SA’s Brad Binder 12th after starting 21st
Brad Binder
Team comments
Brad Binder: “Difficult race for me. Starting in 21st and trying to pass the guys in the beginning, and then I clearly didn’t have the speed in the first stages of the race. As the laps went down, I started to improve my riding at different points on the track and went quicker. In the end, I could match my quickest time on the last lap. I’m glad I improved, but I lost too much time early on. It was an up-and-down weekend, and I got a bit lost, but I gave my all in the race. I was a bit disappointed with 12th, but we’ll regroup and come back stronger in the next phase of the season.”
Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Race Manager: “We knew this track would be tricky for us. We didn’t race here last year, and then FP2 was wet, so we lost some valuable track time. When you cannot achieve all your goals but also score fifth position, we have to “Be happy. Miguel was strong in that group, and Brad suffered from qualifying. He was a rookie here on the KTM RC16 but was making good lap-times by the end. It was some more experience for him.”
“Iker was having such a good weekend, and his crash was a shame. We feel sorry for him because it had been a good performance. Danilo was just behind Brad and, overall, we need to think about what we can do better. Now We have the summer break, and it’s good for everybody because it has been a demanding season so far with the travel restrictions.We have two riders in the top ten in the championship, and Miguel has been one of the top points scorers from the last four races. We’ve made good progress, and it’s a nice situation to be in when we next come together for two home GPs.”
Brad Binder