South African rider has spectacular race but falls with five laps remaining. Bendsneyder makes a brilliant comeback through the field.

Brad Binder and Bo Bendsneyder faced tricky conditions at the Czech GP, with heavy rain for the Moto3 race at the end of a sunny weekend with good weather. The track was completely wet for the 11am race start, and the two Red Bull KTM Ajo riders both had a great race -with differing outcomes. Binder suffered a crash at Turn 1 with five laps to go, when leading the race, while Bendsneyder finished seventh after starting twenty-fourth on the grid.

Moto3 World Championship leader Binder was unable to extend his lead over his rivals, despite his initial dominance. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider had opened up a lead of 2 seconds in tricky conditions –which eventually caught him out before the chequered flag.

Bendsneyder grew in strength as the race progressed, managing to equal his best result of season –taken last week in Austria. The rookie had started from twenty-fourth, but was able to find a good race pace that allowed him to approach the group fighting for fifth. Bendsneyder was tenth to start the penultimate lap, but made three big overtaking moves to finish seventh for the second consecutive race.

Despite his crash, Brad Binder continues to lead the World Championship with 179 points, 61 ahead of his nearest rival. Bo Bendsneyder has 36 points and rises to nineteenth position overall. The next race will be held in two weeks’ time at Silverstone.

Results (Race)
1. John McPhee (Peugeot) 45:36.087
2. Jorge Martin (Mahindra) +8.806
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Honda) +9.777
4. Enea Bastianini (Honda) +10.654
5. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) +13.872
7. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +15.819
DNF. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2016
1. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 179 points
2. Jorge Navarro (Honda) 118 points
3. Enea Bastianini (Honda) 94 points
4. Romano Fenati (KTM) 93 points
5. Francesco Bagnaia (Mahindra) 90 points
19. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 36 points

Aki Ajo – Team Manager
“It was a pity that Brad [Binder] crashed, but in these conditions, as we all know, it is something that can happen at any time and to any rider. It’s a shame, because he was leading the race, but we must accept that we do not have much experience in wet conditions and take it as a lesson learned. We must learn from this and I’m sure that next time we’ll know how to handle it better. The good news is that we have not lost too many points in the championship fight. Bo [Bendsneyder], once again, had a great race, especially on the final stretch when he managed to stay calm and have some good final laps. I want to congratulate him on his result.”

41 BRAD BINDER
“There’s not much to say. Until the crash I had no fear and everything was going perfectly. I cannot be more grateful to the team, because my bike was more than perfect. I have never had such a good feeling in the rain in my life. I turned in a little too much for the corner and I think there was a small puddle there, so it was a bit unfortunate. I’m sorry for the team because today I maybe should not have done what I was doing. I would have been able to secure the points, but I was not forcing things to go fast –it was simply that I felt very comfortable and did not have the feeling that I was doing anything crazy. The positive thing from today is that I only lost six points from my lead in the World Championship.”

64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“It was a great race. I always feel good in the rain, but this morning after the warmup I did not feel entirely comfortable and we made some positive changes to the setup. My strategy was to take the first corner on the outside, to try to overtake some riders. Gradually I gained confidence and was approaching the front group. I had two very good final laps, and on the last one I was able to improve a little whilst the others lost pace. Starting twenty-fourth, my goal was to score points, but I did not expect to be in the Top 10 so I’m happy.”