Portuguese rider completes great race in Italy with fifth position and the South African, in his first race after returning from injury, finishes tenth from 23rd on the grid.

Few imagined that the Red Bull KTM Ajo team would be able to take a fifth and a tenth position at Mugello this Sunday, after the difficulties experienced by Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder the previous two days. Oliveira placed inside the Top 5 for the fourth time this year, whilst teammate Binder made an heroic charge to move up fourteen places. The Italian Grand Prix was his return to action after three races out through injury.

Miguel Oliveira saved his best for Sunday in the race. He made a good start, gaining two places in the first sector and completing the first lap in sixth. Unfortunately, a duel with home rider Marini allowed the lead group to break away, and despite Oliveira having a pace to match them, the distance was too large and he had to settle for fifth position.

Brad Binder put in an extraordinary performance. Affected by pains in his left arm, operated on for the third time recently, the South African moved up eight places on the first lap. He continued ascending the order, breaking into the Top 10 on Lap 15. With the discomfort in his arms increasing, Binder held on heroically to keep tenth place.

After the first Italian round of the season, Miguel Oliveira is fourth in the overall standings with 70 points. Binder added a further 6 points to his tally, after taking 7 in Argentina, and is seventeenth with a total of 13. The next race will be held next weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Results (Race)
1. Mattia Pasini (Kalex) 39:30.974
2. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) +0.052
3. Alex Marquez (Kalex) +0.136
4. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) +3.643
5. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +5.124
10. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +16.036

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2017
1. Franco Morbidelli (Kalex) 113 points
2. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 100 points
3. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 78 points
4. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 70 points
5. Francesco Bagnaia (Kalex) 53 points
17. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 13 points

41 BRAD BINDER
“Yesterday I had a hard time riding the bike; my arm hurt a lot and I had no energy. Thanks to the team, Doctor Mir, the Clinica Mobile and my physios that have helped me to feel strong and get to the race. Today, I don’t know how, but after 10 laps my left arm was very tired and the effort I had to expend with the right to compensate took its toll on me with 5 laps to go. Having come back from the injury with this result is something to be very happy about. Now I just have to keep working, try to recover the strength in my left arm to be 100% fit as soon as possible.”

44 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“During the first few laps I lost a lot of time behind Marini; whenever I tried to pass, he returned the move and we lost a lot of time compared to the four in front of us. Later, when I had overtaken him, there was a lot of distance to the front riders and although I had a good pace I couldn’t catch them. I’m happy about the work we did this weekend; it was a difficult circuit, but we have consolidated fourth place in the World Championship and I am satisfied with that. There is no time to rest, so from today we have to think about Barcelona.”

AKI AJO – TEAM MANAGER
“We have to be very happy about Moto2 today. The feeling is like after a victory. Fifth and tenth position are very good results for us. It was a good fifth position for Miguel [Oliveira], especially because we could see that his race pace was good enough to be among the leaders. Unfortunately at the beginning of the race we weren’t prepared to catch the front group. It is not a big problem now, and the important thing is that we are improving with this project and we are always going forward. Miguel did a very good job. Brad [Binder] is like a hero for us after this race, he finished with a very sore arm that he’d suffered with throughout the weekend. He made a very good start and had a good race. It’s something incredible, so many congratulations to Brad.”