Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 rider crosses the line in nineteenth position at the Red Bull Ring, after gaining eight places.

Darryn Binder completed the 23-lap Moto3 Austrian GP in nineteenth position this Sunday. Starting from the ninth row of the grid, the South African was in a constant fight to catch the lead group, although incidents in the first part of the race prevented him from doing so.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider had a tough job ahead of him, starting from twenty-seventh place. After getting off the line well and gaining six places on the first lap, Binder was up into the Top 20 on Lap 2. From there, the continuous overtaking moves between riders placed him in a group of three tussling for seventeenth, making it impossible for him to reach the front of the race. The South African completed the contest in this group, taking the chequered flag nineteenth.

After this very special race for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team in Austria, Darryn Binder is twenty-second in the overall standings with 20 points. The next GP of the year will take place in two weeks’ time, on August 26th at the Silverstone Circuit in the UK.

Results (Race)
1. Marco Bezzechi (KTM) 37:13.198
2. Enea Bastianini (Honda) +0.473
3. Jorge Martin (Honda) +0.544
4. Albert Arenas (KTM) +1.373
5. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda) +1.421
19. Darryn Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +19.550

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2018
1. Marco Bezzechi (KTM) 158 points
2. Jorge Martin (Honda) 146 points
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Honda) 121 points
4. Aron Canet (Honda) 118 points
5. Enea Bastianini (Honda) 117 points
22. Darryn Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 20 points

Aki Ajo – Team Manager
“The truth is that if we look at the weekend as a whole, there have been positive points for Darryn [Binder] in both dry and wet conditions. Yesterday in qualifying we didn’t choose the perfect strategy by not switching to slicks in the final minutes, so our position on the grid wasn’t so good. Today, in the race, the challenge of fighting from so far back was very difficult. Still, we have to analyse our pace, look at how to improve it and continue working to continue taking steps forward at the next round, at Silverstone.”

40 DARRYN BINDER
“I really thought that I could reach the front group today. On the first lap I pushed my hardest, but I almost went off the track at Turn 6 and I dropped back a few positions there. I latched onto the large group at the front, but I almost crashed along with another rider after a strange move, which forced me wide and left me out of the group again. When I was able to reach them a second time, it was already a group of three riders and I fought with them for a while until I caught Norrodin. On the last lap I thought I had everything under control, but after many passes I finished 19th. I’m not happy with the result; I think we can do a better job, so at Silverstone we have to work hard to improve.”