Jack Miller had led the feature race on Sunday in which Brad Binder also pulled off a brilliant recovery ride after dropping down the order after contact early on.
Binder did however pick up a second-place finish in Saturday’s Sprint race. Binder and the team both hold 3rd in their respective championship standings while KTM are currently the 2nd best constructor.
The short, tight but demanding Bugatti circuit within the vast Le Mans 24hr motorsport complex drew sunshine, spring temperatures and a MotoGP record number of fans to round five of 2023 MotoGP.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had already shown their competitiveness by topping Practice on Friday and finishing 2nd in the Saturday Sprint as both Jack Miller and Brad Binder respectively got down to pace with their KTM RC16.
Sunday gave us the full Grand Prix distance and spectacle of 27 laps under the northern French sun. It was Miller who made the more effective getaway and led the opening exchanges.
The Australian slipped back the fringes of the top five as the laps ticked down and he battled to maximize the grip of the soft tire combination. With three laps remaining he was disappointed to see the gravel and the end of his race on the exit to Turn 4.
Binder made a fantastic getaway like his teammate, but contact with another rider into La Chapelle pushed the South African wide and he dropped down the order almost out of the top twenty.
Throughout the race he managed to pull himself all the way back to 6th, even after having to endure a Long Lap penalty for running across the inside of Turn 9.
As the checkered flag waved, the championship standings pivoted to reflect Brad’s status in 3rd. Jack is 8th. MotoGP now breaks for three weekends before anticipation of the Gran Premio D’Italia Oakley around the epic curves of Mugello in mid-June.
It was yet another thrilling weekend of MotoGP action, despite the riders and the team’s performance more deserving in terms of progress in each respective championship. However, everything is still to play for heading into Round six.
Discussing his recovery ride, Brad Binder said: “I had a really good feeling for the race and had a fantastic start but unfortunately in Turn 4 someone hit the side of me and I went from 6th-7th all the way back outside the top twenty.
“A tough one and then a tough fight to come through. I chipped away slowly but surely until I got an amazing slipstream on Jack and overshot the mark into Turn 9. I had to make a decision to save it and just shot across the inside of the chicane.
“I didn’t drop back far enough and from that mistake I had a Long Lap penalty: if bad luck comes in ‘threes’ then I think I spent them this race! It was important to keep my head down then and bring the bike home.”
Despite being rather unlucky over the weekend and missing out on points, Jack Miller remained positive and said: “Obviously not the way we wanted to end things here. We had great pace all weekend and led a decent handful of laps but when the other boys came past they seemed to be able to knock-it-up a gear and I knew my marks: I knew where I could push and where I couldn’t.
“I was fading a little bit but also preserving the left side of the tire and I knew I had a bit left at the end. I then used too much curb on the inside of Turn 4 and that was all she wrote. I cut it tight just a little bit too much.
“Really disappointing for myself and the team, they have been doing an amazing job and the bike was so good all weekend. It’s a bummer to come away with no points but we’ll re-group for Mugello.”
Reflecting on the team’s weekend performance, Red Bull KTM Team Manager Francesco Guidotti said: “A positive weekend even if we did not get what we deserved today. Brad had contact on the first lap and was as far down as 18th and he recovered as strong as usual, even with a dubious Long Lap penalty.
“We have to analyse Jack’s crash as it was strange. It was a good weekend with both riders into Q2 on Friday and we’ll look forward to the next GP with confidence.
“We have two fantastic riders in this team and we will keep supporting them to the maximum, from the first to the last person in the factory and from the team mechanics to any person who touches this MotoGP effort. Many congratulations to Augusto [Fernandez] as this is another sign that our group project is going in the right direction.”