Brad Binder takes victory at French Grand Prix

08/05/2016

Second consecutive win for Red Bull KTM Ajo rider, with teammate Bo Bendsneyder finishing in sixteenth position.

Brad Binder added a second victory to his account for the season at the Moto3 French Grand Prix, besting all comers at the legendary Le Mans circuit. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider, who started from second on the grid, still has a perfect record of podiums from the opening handful of races this year: This weekend’s result adds to second place in Qatar, third in Argentina and at Austin, and a win at Jerez two weeks ago. Binder continues to lead the overall standings in the Moto3 World Championship. Rookie Bo Bendsneyder completed his fifth GP in the World Championship in sixteenth position.

Binder set a strong pace from the start, and by the end of the first lap had already taken the lead. Over the next few laps, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider maintained his spot in a close fight with Romano Fenati, who got past him on Lap 7. From that moment, with a group of four riders dicing for victory -Fenati, Jorge Navarro and Aron Canet-, there was a constant exchange of positions until Lap 22, when the South African got in front for the final time and held onto the lead until the chequered flag.

Bendsneyder had taken off from twenty-first position, dropping down three places off a poor start. Gradually, the Dutchman upped his pace and passed a series of riders to climb the order -eventually finishing sixteenth.

With this second victory, Binder is the World Championship leader with 102 points, 24 more than nearest rival Navarro. Bendsneyder is twenty-fifth with 2 points to his name.

Results (Race)
1. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 41:31.041
2. Romano Fenati (KTM) +0.099
3. Jorge Navarro (Honda) +0.387
4. Aron Canet (Honda) +1.354
5. Nicolo Bulega (KTM) +7.147
16. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +20.915

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2016
1. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 102 points
2. Jorge Navarro (Honda) 78 points
3. Romani Fenati (KTM) 67 points
4. Nicolo Bulega (KTM) 47 points
5. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) 39 points
25. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2 points

Aki Ajo – Team Manager
“It was a completely different race to that in Jerez, but Brad [Binder] showed how strong he is right now. In Moto3 you should always keep your feet on the ground and work race-by-race, but Brad demonstrated his experience today. He handled the situation very well. He did a very good job, rode a very smart race and was intelligent throughout the weekend. Despite some technical difficulties this weekend, everything worked out perfectly in the race, so I’m very grateful to the whole team -and to KTM for their support. It was also a very good race for Bo [Bendsneyder]. It is his first year in this championship and at the start of the season everything is new for him, but I think that this has been his best race so far. I am very pleased to see how he improved during the race, and the solidity he demonstrated. I congratulate him for his performance.”

41 BRAD BINDER
“Today has been a very good day for me; I am very happy to have got another win. That’s two in a row, as well as placing on the podium at every race so far this year, which is fantastic. I enjoyed the victory today more than the first one, because I didn’t really take in what happened at Jerez until two days later. I tried to pull away, but I saw that today that would not be possible. I knew that if I pushed really hard on the last lap, I could brake a little harder and close the lines well enough to not give anyone a chance of passing me. When I overtook Fenati, I set up my exit from the corner before the straight. I saw the opportunity to pass, and I took advantage of it. My intention was to overtake on the main straight, but when I saw the opportunity I closed the door and got this second victory.”

64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“The start was difficult and, moreover, there were two crashes right in front of me that meant I had to run wide. After that I caught the group at the front and was running a Top 10 pace. The feeling overall from this weekend is good, as I’ve seen that I can maintain a strong pace in practice and in the race today. We worked hard to prepare for the race and now we have to work to improve in the qualifying sessions, so that we can get a good position on the early laps of races.”

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