Season finale for Red Bull KTM Ajo in Valencia
09/11/2016Brad Binder and Bo Bendsneyder will round off an excellent season this weekend in Valencia.
As is traditional, the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain, will bring down the curtain on another Moto3 World Championship season. Brad Binder and Bo Bendsneyder come into the season finale at the end of an excellent campaign, with the former having recently been crowned World Champion and the latter having placed on the podium twice in his rookie season. Both Red Bull KTM Ajo riders have the opportunity to finish the year in style at Round 18.
The new Moto3 World Champion, Binder has taken 6 wins and a further 7 podiums in 2016. He has the chance to equal the record for Moto3 victories in a season this weekend, set by Luis Salom with Red Bull KTM Ajo in 2013. Binder, who finished fourth in Valencia both last year and in 2011, will undertake his 93rd and final race in the lower cylinder category, before moving up to Moto2 next year with the new KTM.
For Bendsneyder, this will be the end of his first season in the World Championship. This year he has achieved two podiums, the most recent in Malaysia two weeks ago. Fifteenth in the overall standings with 75 points, the Dutchman will seek to maintain or improve this position in the season finale.
The 24-lap Moto3 Valencia GP takes place at 11am this Sunday.
Circuit information – Ricardo Tormo
Length: 4.005m / 2.489 miles
Width: 12m
Left corners: 9
Right corners: 5
Longest straight: 876 m / 0.544 miles
Constructed: 1999
41 BRAD BINDER
“I am very eager to ride at the last race of the year in Valencia. We have already started the week in a busy fashion, travelling first to Austria and then attending the EICMA in Milan for the presentations by KTM. Now we come to Valencia, a circuit I know well. It will be a special weekend, my last race in Moto3 and the last of an unforgettable season. I hope I can finish this time with another victory, after the disappointment of Malaysia -where I thought I was strong enough to fight for it. I have been just off the podium twice at this circuit, so this Sunday I hope to get a rostrum finish and end 2016 in the best way possible.”64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“After the Asian rounds and spending a week at home, I can’t wait for this last Grand Prix of the year and want a good result. I think we can do well, because we already had good pace in the tests we did there in preseason -although the conditions may be different. After the podium in Malaysia, I hope to get another good result at a track that I already know. We will start out with the idea of going for the Top 10, although once we have seen how we go, we will see if we can aim for more.”