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Brad Binder owns up to making two mistakes in Indonesia MotoGP
Red Bull KTM man finishes sixth after being slapped twice with Long Lap penalties in Lombok.
Bad Binder wears a special green and gold design helmet in Lombok. Picture: KTM
Brad Binder took full responsibility for making contact with two riders during the Indonesia MotoGP at the weekend.
The Red Bull KTM rider, who wore a helmet finished in Springbok colours, finished the main race in Lombok in sixth place after being slapped with two Long Lap penalties. The first was for touching Luca Marini early on and the second for making contact with former team-mate Miguel Oliviera.
Ironically, Binder was taken out of the sprint race on Saturday while lying on fifth place by Aleix Espargaro, an incident the Spaniard was not penalised for. The Aprilia rider did visit Binder in the pits later to apologise.
Brad Binder apologises
“I’m very sorry to the whole Mooney VR46 team and of course Luca,” Binder told the KTM website.
“After that I just tried to push and gain as much as I could but hit Miguel into Turn 2. It was 100% my fault. So, more apologies to him and his team.
“Two Long Laps and I deserved them both. Considering everything we were lucky to finish sixth and to reach the flag.”
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Had it not been for the two sanctions, Binder could have easily been in contention for the podium in a race from which seven riders retired. Extremely hot conditions wreaked havoc with tyres throughout the weekend.
Bagnaia reclaims lead
Jorge Martin, who wo the sprint race to overtake Francesco Bagnaia in the MotoGP title race, held a comfortable lead on Sunday before he too crashed out. Bagnaia finished ahead of Maverick Vinales and a resurgent Fabio Quartararo to reclaim the title race lead.
With five Grands Prix to go, Bagnaia (346 points) leads Martin (328), Marco Bezzecchi (283) and Binder (211). Espargaro is 34 points back in fifth place.
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Down Under
The MotoGP now moves to Phillip Island for the Australia Grand Prix this coming weekend.
“Phillip Island is my favourite track in the calendar, we just need to protect the tire there. I’ve had good feeling in the past so I hope it will be a positive weekend,” Binder added.
Brad Binder’s younger brother Darryn Binder continued his good run of form for the third consecutive Moto2 race in Indonesia.
The Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP rider earned three points finished 13th. He is 18th in the championship on 31 points.
