26 November, Circuit Ricardo Tormo, Spain: Red Bull KTM Factory Racing concluded their season with fierce competitiveness at the Gran Premio de la Comunitat Valenciana.
Brad Binder, who finished as runner-up in Saturday’s Sprint, provided fans with a strong performance in the race, leading for a considerable amount of time and finishing in third place after making a mistake.
Meanwhile, teammate Jack Miller also showed great promise by leading the pack as well but unfortunately slipped out at Turn 11. It was an eventful and exciting finale to the season, with fans from around the world tuning in to witness the action and Red Bull KTM’s growing potential.
The finale to an intense period of races that has seen the championship visit Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and Qatar in the last six weeks. The crowds returned in force following Saturday’s Sprint Race and packed the speedway setting of the Circuito Ricardo Tormo for Sunday’s Grand Prix races and the last flurry of 27 laps of the campaign.
Jack Miller and Brad Binder both started from the first and second rows of the grid and enthused by their speed through qualification as well as the South African’s competitiveness in the Sprint, which saw #33 cross the line just 0.190 of a second from the win.
On Sunday both riders sliced to the front of the pack and were running first and second through the early phases of the race.
Brad Binder ran wide heading into Turn 11 which forced him to take to the escape road. Despite dropping down the order, the South African pushed towards the end of the race and had to make some forceful moves to recover ground to 4th.
Coming across the line just 2.3 seconds from the winner by the chequered flag, Binder was ultimately awarded 3rd place due to a tyre pressure infringement by another rider.
Miller took over control of the race following his teammate’s error but then made his own misjudgment with only 10 laps remaining. It was the the same section of the circuit for both riders, however the Australian wasn’t able to recover like his teammate and crashed out of the race.
Over the course of 2023, the Team and its riders have excelled in Sprints in Argentina, Spain, Austria and Thailand while spraying podium Prosecco on Sunday’s in Spain, Austria, Britain and Thailand.
Work for next season begins almost immediately with all the teams on the grid extending their stay as usual at the end of the season with the one-day official testing taking place in Valencia on Tuesday.
Brad Binder, 3rd, said: “A 3rd place is a 3rd place, even if we didn’t actually go to the podium! I gave away a couple of podiums this year, so I know it’s not fun. Anyway, quite cool to finish in 3rd after coming close. I took an un-needed Long Lap but did well to save the crash because the front tyre had been cooling down.
“A tricky day. I tried to fight my way back through but had no rear tire left at the end. We won two Sprints this year but it would have been good to sign off with a main victory. We just need a little bit more in this off-season to fight. Thanks to all my crew. We’ve made a big step this year and there’s more to come.”
Jack Miller, DNF, said: “Not much to say. I didn’t do much different compared to the previous lap. I’d had a few moments with the front so decided to take it easy and not do anything too savage and, yeah, she just got away from me. It could have been an amazing result…but we’ll take stock and bounce back.
“It has been a year of firsts in many ways and a bittersweet way to end because it’s nice to know we have pace and we’re heading in the right direction. We have been working our butts off. The rider is just one small part because there is so much going on behind the scenes. It’s a battle to better a MotoGP during a season like this and with the small window. Everyone has worked tirelessly, so I thank them all for that.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “It was a great season in that we improved the bike, and the riders put themselves in a position where they could change styles to suit it. It was a very intense calendar and, overall, we’re happy with 4th in the championship with Brad and 2nd in Constructors but this is just a step.
“I was impressed by how much we could improve in just one season, especially qualifying, and we know there is a little bit more to do if we want the championship. 3rd place was good today after leading the race. We can see the level of this category: just one little thing can really change the results. So, we have to put everything together lap-by-lap to achieve the target. It’s difficult but we recovered a lot this year. We will try again in 2024 and we will keep the focus.”