The Japanese GP once again offered a demonstration from Ducati. The Italian brand won its tenth consecutive sprint-main race double and its fifth quintuple on Sunday over the same period. Pedro Acosta had the potential to resist them but fell twice, at the head of the sprint race and while second the next day. Affected by an electronic problem on Saturday, Brad Binder was able to take over for KTM during the Grand Prix.
A good start took the South African from fifth to third place and as Acosta fell, he gave way to Jorge Martín, before being overtaken by Marc Márquez. Binder had a longer illusion against Enea Bastianini and Franco Morbidelli, whom he held off for several laps, but the two Italians ended up taking the advantage and he had to settle for sixth place at the finish, after having had great difficulty managing his front tire.
“A complicated race”summarized Binder. “At the beginning, when I tried to attack to follow the others, I kept losing the front, it was super hard to keep it on the ground but after a while, everything fell into place. But with probably six or seven laps to go, the center of the tire was already completely dead so I was spinning all the way down the straight and it was really hard to be clean and consistent because I was really missing it. a lot of grip when I was upright.”
“Generally speaking, everything else was pretty OK. It wasn’t at all the race I wanted but I did my best and that’s what we had today. “
Brad Binder ultimately did not stay in front of Ducati representatives
Photo de: KTM Images
On the official MotoGP website, Binder clarified that he was “very complicated to have traction from one turn to another”visibly more than the five Ducati riders who beat him: “I think today everyone was in difficulty when we saw how big the gaps were. I believe that the [leaders] managed their tires much better.”
Binder also avoided taking risks when he saw Acosta fall in front of him, after also having an alert: “On the lap before he fell, I lost the front in the same corner. Then on the next lap, I saw him fall and I told myself it wasn’t just me. I so I tried to really take care [de mon pneu avant] and, after six or seven laps, it was more under control.”
“In the end, I did what I could and brought the bike back to the finish”added the South African. “I would have loved to do better than sixth but it is what it is and we’ll just try again next week.”
A “solid” weekend for Miller
On the other official KTM, Jack Miller inherited the status of best representative of the brand during the sprint, after the falls of Acosta and Binder, which brought him back to seventh position. On the last lap, contact with Marco Bezzecchi allowed Álex Márquez to overtake him but he remained satisfied despite difficult tires to manage.
“I was able to at least fight when the tire deteriorated at the end”commented Miller. “You have to understand the degradation a little better, I don’t know if it was linked to the tire, the conditions or something else but on both sides, after four laps on the limit, it didn’t seem bad but it was floating, floating , was floating, and I couldn’t go straight into the corners without losing the rear before I had slowed down well.”
“Other than that, a pretty acceptable result. I tried to keep up with Frankie and Diggia but I didn’t really have their pace.”
Jack Miller
Photo de: KTM Images
In the main race, an exceptional start took Miller from 14th to fifth place. “I had a great takeoff, pulled off a few maneuvers on the first lap and ended up with free reign, which was nice.”explained the Australian on his official website. “I thought a top 5 was possible when I overtook Marc [Márquez] on the opposite straight, but the others started to overtake me.”
Miller eventually dropped to tenth but was pleased to have taken points in both races, something he achieved for only the fifth time this year: “All things considered, solid racing for us and I can’t wait to get to [Phillip Island] and give it my all in Australia.”
With Léna Buffa
Related News :