Brad Binder made the most of long overdue sunny conditions at Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna to take his Red Bull KTM Factory Racing RC16 to 11th position at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and the second outing at the circuit this season.
– Oliveira so close to podium finish before late race fall
– Binder recovers from Sighting Lap mishap to manage 11th
– Tech3 KTM Factory Racing DNF while fighting in the top ten
Oliveira was the most advanced KTM racer on the grid with 5th place meaning a prime spot in the middle of the second row. Tech3 KTM Factory Racing pairing Iker Lecuona (8th) and Danilo Petrucci (9th) began the race from the best qualification ranking for the squad this season. After two days of rain, cold and damp, raceday brought sunshine and a far better climate, although the switch did pose set-up questions and doubts for the entire grid.
Oliveira made a fantastic start to slot into the top four and competed with Pol Espargaro for most of the race for the last step of the rostrum. With four laps remaining the Portuguese lost control and fell at Turn 14. Petrucci was luckless to be hit off the track by Joan Mir in the formative stages of the race and Lecuona was also out of the running shortly after due to a mistake at Turn 1.
Brad Binder had to use his second bike to set off from 20th after a tumble on the Sighting Lap. The South African pushed through the pack, reached 15th and continued to search the limit with his set-up, even sustaining a Long Lap penalty for touching track limits. Only a late surge from Valentino Rossi prevented Binder from taking 10th.
Portugal and Spain are the final two countries in the 2021 MotoGP series. A second spin around the Algarve International Circuit in Portimao will occur in a fortnight and the season will close a week later at the Ricardo Tormo racetrack in Valencia.
Brad Binder: “All in all, I’d say today is a day to forget. I felt quite good for the race and chose the harder tire option. I wanted to feel what it was like on the Sighting Lap but I didn’t have my brakes warm enough going down the back straight and I locked up the front wheel. Not clever. That’s the first time I’ve ever crashed on the Sighting Lap: not good at all. I tried hard in the race and I felt like I was coming along but I wouldn’t describe it as solid. I’d like to know where I touched the green limits for the Long Lap. I’m really sorry to the team and all the guys for the confusing weekend. I’m glad Misano is over and we’ll do better in Portimao.”
Miguel Oliveira: “A shame not to finish but a really strong weekend and race. We struggled a bit more right at the end and I crashed on a very slow corner. We’re happy with the small progress that we made and we’ll keep going for my home GP next.”
Iker Lecuona: “I’m a bit disappointed about this race. I had a very good weekend in general and I also felt strong in the racebut the bike somehow didn’t work well with the rear. I didn’t have any grip from the first lap. I started to lose a lot of positions but I still wanted to fight for the top 10 or at least for some points, then I lost the front. want to say sorry to my team because I think we did a very good job during the weekend. I have to think about Portimao now to prepare this next GP.”
Danilo Petrucci: “I’m so sad! We knew it would be a difficult race but I would have loved to greet my fans for one last time from the circuit. Unfortunately, another rider was too optimistic going in corner two and we crashed. I don’t have any words left but I would like to thank all the team for their great efforts and I promise, we will try again in Portimao!”
Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Race Manager: “Today is a bit frustrating because we were only a few laps from the podium but then we had a crash on the slowest corner. It’s a shame because Miguel had such a strong weekend and it would have been a nice result for all of us. It’s racing and we have to deal with it. Brad didn’t have an easy weekend, even from the out-lap but he came back to 11th and you cannot expect much more in this category when you start from the back of the grid. I hope we’ve had all the bad luck for the rest of the season in that race and also when it comes to the Tech3 guys, especially for Danilo who had his last GP in Italy. We’ll go to Portimao and hope for better.”
Results MotoGP Gran Premio Nolan del Made in Italy e dell’Emilia-Romagna 2021
1. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda 41:52.830
2. Pol Espargaro (ESP) Honda +4.859
3. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Ducati +12.013
4. Fabio Quartararo (FRA) Yamaha +12.775
5. Johann Zarco (FRA), Ducati +16.458
11. Brad Binder (RSA), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +27.879
DNF. Miguel Oliveira (POR), Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
DNF. Iker Lecuona (ESP), Tech3 KTM Factory Racing
DNF. Danilo Petrucci (ITA), Tech3 KTM Factory Racing
