Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider claims a hard-fought victory at Phillip Island, whilst teammate Oliveira finishes eleventh.

An excellent performance from Brad Binder this Sunday at the Australian GP ended with him achieving his third victory of the season, following on from successes in Germany and Aragon. The South African’s win was the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team’s second in as many years at Phillip Island, following on from last year’s triumph for Miguel Oliveira. The Portuguese was eleventh today, reducing the gap at the top of the standings by a point.

Binder started from the second row in today’s race, and was ready to go one better than his second place from the 2017 Australian GP. Making a good start, he led the way on Lap 3 and would hold onto it for 10 further laps. Later swallowed up by a group of 7 riders fighting for the podium, it would not be until 2 laps remained that the South African definitively snatched the top spot.

Miguel Oliveira had a very difficult task, taking off from twentieth position on the grid. The Portuguese would gain ten places on the first 3 laps, even though he was still unable to latch onto the leading group. He would, however, place ahead of his main rival in the title fight, completing the 25 lap contest in eleventh.

With two races remaining, Miguel Oliveira lies second in the overall standings and cuts the gap to the top to 36 points. Brad Binder is third with 193 points. Red Bull KTM Ajo remain leaders of the team standings, with a 35-point advantage. The Australian GP podium was the team’s 25th rostrum in their two seasons in Moto2 to date.

The next race will be the penultimate round of the season, and takes place next week in Malaysia.

Results (Race)
1. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 39:23.427
2. Joan Mir (Kalex) +0.036
3. Xavi Vierge (Kalex) +0.949
4. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) +0.957
5. Luca Marini (Kalex) +1.767
11. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +8.675

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2018 – Riders
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Kalex) 288 points
2. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 252 points
3. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 193 points
4. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex) 152 points
5. Joan Mir (Kalex) 149 points

Moto2 World Championship Standing 2018 – Teams
1. Red Bull KTM Ajo 445 points
2. Sky Racing Team VR46 410 points
3. EG 0,0 MARC VDS 297 points
4. Dynavolt Intact GP 257 points
5. Pons HP40 199 points

Aki Ajo – Team Manager
“It was an excellent victory for Brad [Binder] today. He had a great weekend and was very fast and strong, despite the big crash he had on Saturday morning. He recovered very well from that and I am impressed with how he controlled the race, keeping something in reserve for the final laps. Congratulations to him and to the whole team for a great job.

The feeling is mixed, because with Miguel [Oliveira] we didn’t have our best weekend. However, we still have a chance for the title and this is important for us. We didn’t enjoy a good feeling here at Phillip Island, so we have to analyse what happened in order to come back stronger in Sepang.”

44 MIGUEL OLIVEIRA
“This was a weekend where expectations were very high, after the result last year. I never felt comfortable and we made small changes to improve my feeling, but that made me lose a bit of confidence on the bike -especially with the front. It is a pity that we weren’t able to take advantage of this opportunity to cut the gap to the leader by many points, but we must keep our heads up and focus on Malaysia, a circuit where last year we did very well. We have to keep calm and try to get the most out of that race. I thank the team for all the work they are doing. We are in the fight for the title and we will continue pushing, which is the most important thing.”

41 BRAD BINDER
“It was a crazy race; I thought I was in Moto3! I made a good start, got to the front and tried to break the group, but with 13 laps to go I saw that there was no way to do that. I tried to stay in the group and save something for the end. There were a few scares involving other riders; it was a little crazy, as there were people everywhere. I had planned to take the lead when there were two laps left and I pushed with everything I had. I was able to have a good race and take another victory, so I’m very happy. I thank the team a lot, as after the crash in FP3 I had to ride a completely new bike and it worked wonderfully. I hope that things remain the same in Malaysia.”