Brad Binder claims last-gasp second row at Misano

The Red Bull KTM Ajo team ended Saturday at the San Marino GP satisfied with their performance, as both of their Moto2 riders took places on the front three rows of the grid. Brad Binder will start from the second row after setting the fifth best time in qualifying.

The initial plan for FP3 was for both of the Team’s riders to work on their race pace with used tyres, but two big moments altered the strategy. First of all, a few seconds into the session, Brad suffered a small crash at Turn 8, forcing him to the return to the garage. The second moment came right at the end of the 45-minute run, when teammate Oliveira sprung a surprise with the best time of the session and topped the combined timesheets with a solitary 1:37.754 lap on new tyres. Brad finished nineteenth with a 1:38.922.

In qualifying, the Moto2 field once again tried to set quick times early on. However Brad waited until the end to make a final push. With the chequered flag already having been shown, the South African has clocked a 1:37.621 that moved him up to fifth place.

#41 BRAD BINDER
“Things hadn’t gone as we wanted before my last lap, because I hadn’t managed to set a fast enough time, but I took a lot of risks and luckily things went well right at the end. I still want to improve my feeling on the bike. We have to work on our race pace, so tomorrow in the warmup we will try to find something that will help us to be more prepared. I start every race thinking that I can get onto the podium, so let’s see what happens this Sunday.”