Brad takes fourth in #CatalunyaGP Sprint Race
Brad Binder was again the standout performer as the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing MotoGP star rounded the 4.6km Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to another Sprint top four result on Saturday. The South African ran at the front for all 12 laps at round eleven of twenty and the Gran Premi de Catalunya as teammate Jack Miller scored 16th.
A hectic second phase of the 2023 MotoGP calendar began with the second visit to a Spanish Grand Prix circuit this season, and the flow of the popular 14-corner Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was coated with cloudy skies. Red Bull KTM finally ended a busy pre-event promotional schedule with practice and qualification on Friday and where Brad was consistently vying for the top five of the time sheets.
Saturday across the tricky surface saw a cooler and greyer climate, but Brad was a missile through Q2 and was holding 2nd place until the final minutes. The lap-times shuffled down by only a few tenths and Brad ranked 9th by the end of the session – half a second from Pole.
12 circulations of the Catalan course lay in store for the Sprint and Brad concentrated on the lead runners and was trying to shadow Maverick Viñales rear wheel for 3rd place. The South African came very close a few times but eventually took 4th.
Brad Binder
“I gave everything I had from lap one to the end and when the podium is that close then you dig that extra bit deeper but I had a lot of understeer and had to be careful not to mess it all up. It was a tricky race to manage because you get excited about the possibilities but you also need to stay calm and ride to the limit. I feel like we got everything from today and with just a couple of tweaks for tomorrow then we’ll be ready to try again.”