Brad takes sixth place in hard fought Sachsenring Sprint Race
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing showed the versatility and competitiveness of the RC16 today at the Sachsenring. Brad Binder was in the mix in the Sprint Race, watched by a vast crowd, as the South African recorded 6th place in the 15-lap rush.
The seemingly endless spiral of 13 corners at the Sachsenring offers a short, technical and unique challenge on the MotoGP calendar slate. For the many German MotoGP fans vacant viewing spots were hard to come by on Saturday as the first Sprint and the conventional qualification process got underway with bright skies after a wet start.
Brad, who describes the Sachsenring as one of his favorite tracks, set two strong laps at the end of Q1 to make the cut in 1st place. The South African gathered important immediate feeling with slick tires on the drying asphalt and he leapt to the top of the screens early on in Q2. He ended the session in 9th. During the Sprint he was mired in a very tight pursuit of 4th and tried every line and possibility to make a pass but on the final lap he was just pipped to 5th and earned four points for 6th.
The 15-lap MotoGP Sprint will be doubled in length for the full Grand Prix distance tomorrow; a contest that will begin at 14.00 CEST.
Brad Binder
“A bit of a tough race today. I had a lot of wheelspin when the bike was upright and that made life hard. Otherwise, everything was OK! I struggled to get past Marini. I tried everything I could but I was just smoking the tire. We know what to fix and I think we’re in a great place for the race tomorrow.”