Sachsenring, Germany: Each day of the German Grand Prix had been affected by rain showers and a 3.6km racetrack that moved from wet to dry conditions. Sunday, and the second fixture of three back-to-back races, produced warm, summer weather, and the German fans packed the stands and banking around the Sachsenring course.
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.
Jack Miller, a podium finisher at the venue in 2022, qualified 3rd and on the front row for the sprint race. He made a decent start into Turn 1 and fought with Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin in the opening exchanges. He settled into a comfortable 3rd by mid-race distance. The result is his second top three in the relatively new MotoGP Sprint format.
Brad Binder, 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.
Discussing the sprint race, rider Brad Binder said: “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.”
Jack Miller and Brad Binder both made their customary strong starts from 3rd and 9th places on the grid respectively. The short Sachsenring layout meant a 30-lap distance and where tire preservation would be key to consistent pace. Miller had the holeshot but two slips in the first two laps put him on the edge of the group going for the top five.
Binder fought his way to 3rd and had a 3.7 second margin to 2nd when he lost traction momentarily in Turn 9, ran off the track and fell into the gravel. Jack persisted and reached the checkered flag in 6th.
Discussing his performance, rider Jack Miller said: “A good start as always. My bike gets off the line so well. Maybe there was a bit too much commitment into The Waterfall on the first lap; I almost became a statistic in that corner. It was pretty close! It shook me up a little but I was able to regroup over the next 5-10 laps and build into it.
“I was just missing a bit of pace today. Nothing terrible, but the other guys were building up a tenth here and there. I started coming back on those in front of me but, generally, we need a bit more speed at the start of races without worrying about the tire. Overall, a decent weekend here, and time now to roll onto Assen and get this triple header done.”
On the team’s weekend performance, Red Bull KTM Team Manager Francesco Guidotti said: “A shame today. Brad said the bike was working better for him today compared to yesterday and he had a better feeling. He had a moment while losing the front, he tried to save it but then crashed when he hit the gravel. He is fine and will be ready for the next race but it was a shame he could not get his podium.
Jack made a great start but then had a big moment down the hill. He had good race pace but lacked that perfect feeling to make positions back. Onto Assen now and the last race of this triple-header.
We gathered more good information this weekend but we just feel a bit bad for Brad that he missed the podium.”
The championship standings still make for some positive reading for the factory crew: Binder is 5th in the table while Miller is 7th and 17 points from his teammate. KTM are the second-best Constructor and the crew lie 4th from 11 in the Teams rankings.
Without lifting a finger from the brake, MotoGP makes the relatively short trip to the north of the Netherlands where the TT Circuit Assen will welcome another vast attendance and bring the series to round eight before the summer break.