Barcelona, Spain: His teammate Brad Binder was forced to retire during a thrilling 23-lap spectacle at a slick racing circuit.
Catalunya represented the second Grand Prix on Spanish asphalt in 2023. Despite the flowing and greasy surface of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, hosted MotoGP slightly later than the traditional June date, the temperatures remained high and the fans packed the stands to witness the latest round of the world championship flying past at the 355kmph.
Brad Binder and Jack Miller began the race from 9th and 13th on the starting grid following all with useful information from Saturday’s sprint race where Binder’s strong 4th place finish was still fresh in mind.
The South African made the brighter getaway on Sunday afternoon in breezy conditions. Miller avoided the first turn mess that blighted his Sprint efforts 24 hours earlier.
However, Binder was unable to avoid the fallen Francesco Bagnaia out of Turn 2 that caused him to crash. The incident provoked an immediate red flag and a restart for a 23-lap run.
The Red Bull KTM Riders were running in 6th and 7th position until Binder had to stop due a mechanical glitch after three laps. Miller ploughed ahead and was incredibly close to beating Fabio Quartararo to the finish line at the end of the race. Just 0.059 seconds divided the pair in the fight for 7th.
Binder remains 4th in the championship with a 23-point gap to 3rd. Meanwhile, Miller holds 9th as the series now moves onto Italy and the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini next weekend.
Discussing his eighth-placed finish, rider Jack Miller said: “We made some massive changes today and it took me a good five-six laps to get used to them and manage these low grip conditions.
“I have to apologize to the guys because they have been working their butts off to help us and to save the tires. We turned the bike upside down and I got the feeling back. I made a couple of mistakes but then started going quite strong.
“I didn’t realize it was the last lap because I wanted to manage the tire but it was fun and I could ride the way I wanted. It was cool. Misano is the opposite of here, a lot of grip, so we’ll see what we can do there.”
Reflecting on a difficult race result, Brad Binder said: “A crazy afternoon. I had a really good launch but through the exit of Turn 2 I did not see a thing until I arrived to Pecco and his bike in the middle of the track. I clipped something on his bike, went to miss him and couldn’t. I ended up falling. Thank goodness I saw him moving, so I hope he is fine.
“We restarted the race and I brought last tire we had up to temperature but then we had a technical issue. My only priority today is that I did not seriously hurt anybody. As for the result; it is what it is.”
The Gran Premi de Catalunya also hosted the occasion for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and the two-times winners of the America’s Cup – Alinghi Red Bull Racing – combined for a special livery design.
Alinghi Red Bull Racing are nearing thirty years of existence and in that time have claimed the prestigious America’s Cup twice and are one of six entrants looking for top honors in the 2024 edition that will be held in Barcelona next October.
Following the race, Red Bull KTM Team Manager Francesco Guidotti said: “A dramatic day and the most important thing is that nobody was seriously injured. Brad’s bike was damaged and we had to move to the spare bike that suffered a problem that we still need to analyze.
“A tough situation and a shame because Brad had a good feeling. We are still growing and improving. He was in a good mood because of his competitiveness, even with the hard tire as we did not have a medium back-up option. Anyway, the general picture is positive and our confidence remains high for Misano.
“Jack started with a completely new setting. We said ‘we have nothing to lose’ and we went for it and after a few laps he was comfortable and started pushing. He recovered and just missed out on maybe two more positions if he knew it was the last lap! He has his feeling back, which is good.”