A weekend which featured a special gold Mobil 1 livery on the KTM RC16 and a record breaking crowd witnessed another tough battle for Red Bull KTM Racing at the Gran Premio de España.
Brad Binder held on to take a sixth-placed finish at the flag, while his teammate, Jack Miller, must feel incredibly hard done by as he wasn’t able to fight the points in the concluding laps as from Franco Morbidelli took him out of the running with 8 laps to go.
KTM wildcard pick and Saturday’s podium finisher, Dani Pedrosa, couldn’t recreate his heroics of the previous day and crashed out on Lap 4.
Mobil 1 were on hand in Jerez, in particular with technical support from Pablo Terroba in the KTM garage to test oil and fuels samples at track. Recently a new, unique version of Mobil 1 was installed in the KTM RC16 machines, using a patented molecule developed by Mobil. As this partnership continues to grow, and Mobil 1 develops bespoke products for the team.
“We’re more than happy to celebrate here at Jerez with a fantastic partner in our MotoGP program,” said Pit Beirer, KTM Motorsports Director. “Congratulations to Mobil 1 for fifty years of history and for their growth, their achievements and their presence, both at the top level of motorsport – where we mutually set the official top speed record at 366.1 kmph – but also our day-to-day lives on the road.”
Brad Binder had a great launch off the line and looked for an opportunity to attack the riders start ahead on the front row. However, the South African’s competitors had similar ideas and pushed him wide heading into Turn 1.
The avoiding action meant he dropped back into 6th position. KTM wildcard Pedrosa had a good start alongside Jack Miller as all three riders settled into positions for the early part of the race.
However, 4 laps in Dani Pedrosa, with memories of his Saturday Sprint race podium still fresh, lost the bike and crashed out of the race. The circuit in Jerez had been precarious all weekend with a number of wet patches causing riders to lose control through no fault of their own.
Binder and Miller continued battling with some thrilling fights as the race got into it’s final stages. By Lap 8, Miller was in the points and looking to improve his finish position when Franco Morbidelli tried a risky lunge up the inside of the Australian, and like Pedrosa lost control of his bike, sliding out and taking Miller along with him.
In the final laps of the race, the Circuit in Jerez showed why it’s a difficult track for overtaking as Binder was able to force a move into the top 5. His attacking mindset did allow pressure from behind to come, but he had enough power and control with his RC16 to fend off pressure and take home sixth and 10 valuable Championship points at the flag.
After a tricky weekend, Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager, said: “Where to start?! A very strange weekend. Brad had some tricky vibration today through the left corners and that didn’t allow him to ride as he could. He took some good points but this is not his potential, for sure. Jack was also building up some points but his race finished in the gravel. Tomorrow we have the test and some interesting things to try.”
Brad is 7th in the world championship standings and ahead of Jack in 14th. The Grand Prix de France means another busy and prominent date on the MotoGP calendar. Round five will dip into the speed and curves of Le Mans in a fortnight.
Finish with double-digits for his World Championship total, Brad Binder said: “Today’s race was a little bit tricky. I did not get the same start as yesterday and just didn’t have the same pace as the boys upfront. I tried my best but it wasn’t quite our day. I had a lot of chatter from the first lap and it made it difficult to carry corner speed. We need to sit down and work out what was going on because that was the first time we had the issue this weekend.”
Unlucky not to finish in the points, Jack Miller said: “I had some pace and was trying to go with Pedro when I copped a bike to the side in Turn 5. There was nothing I could do about it. Not ideal. When it rains it pours! We are struggling to turn the luck in our direction…but we’ll keep plugging away and the test tomorrow will be important to iron out a few things and understand what’s going on.”