Red Bull KTM secured more MotoGP world championship points thanks to Brad Binder’s 6th position in the Saturday Sprint at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the second consecutive event at the sunny Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Jack Miller classified 14th after starting from 19th on the grid. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jose Antonio Rueda managed the 9th fastest lap with the KTM RC4 in Moto3™.
- Binder blasts through Q1 in P1, seals 4th on the grid and then throttles the KTM RC16 to capture 6th in the second Sprint to circulate San Misano this month
- Miller has a setback in Q1 and had to accept P19 on the grid but fights hard to gain four positions and crossed the line in 15th and was upgraded to 14th with a penalty for another rider
- A decent day for Red Bull KTM Ajo with Jose Antonio Rueda a slender 0.3 from the top spot in Moto3™ as Celestino Vietti ploughs a course to the 4th fastest Moto2™ lap at Misano
The penultimate European Grand Prix of 2024 took MotoGP back to San Marino as the Emilia Romagna round replaced the date initially penciled for Kazakhstan. Despite a damp start on Friday morning, Misano quickly dried and provided fast and high-grip conditions once more for Saturday’s agenda. Red Bull KTM and their rivals already had plenty of data and references for the 16-corner layout and both Brad Miller and Jack Binder got immediately to work once the asphalt reached an optimum state.
The South African and the Australian went into Q1 but Binder rasped to 1st place and went straight into Q2. Jack had an issue with his tire choice and ranked 19th. One second split the top 11 riders in Q2 and
Brad’s best lap came in the final minute of Q2 and initially had him on the front row in 3rd. He was lowered to 4th by 0.072 of a second and in the final moments of the 15-minute outing.
Attempting to make the most of his decent grid slot Binder made an excellent jump when the lights disappeared at the start of the Sprint but then weathered a difficult opening two laps to get his tire into working range and also pop up his start device! Once into a rhythm he was just outside the top five and a fairly static race ended with #33 collecting four points. Miller had a mountain of work from the last row of the grid and kept pushing to finally take 15th past the flag and was bumped up to 14th post-race.
Another 27-laps at Misano will start the earlier time of 13.00 CEST on Sunday.
Brad Binder, 4th in qualification, 6th in the Sprint: “My speed was decent and to do a 30.6 in Q2 was my quickest lap around here. I messed up the Sprint because it took too long for the front tire to come up to performance and I almost crashed and went wide in Turn 11. I needed two laps to get my feeling and then I could ride OK. It still wasn’t fast enough but at least I could push and I’m happy enough with the result because I thought I had ruined the race by the time we go to Turn 6 for the first time. Tomorrow I definitely need to work on that tire situation, and we should be pretty good.”
Jack Miller, 19th in qualification, 14th in the Sprint: “We were a tenth off my time from the Sprint last time so we’re hitting the same marks. We missed a bit of balance today, so some work to be done for a better feeling tomorrow. Fingers crossed we can work out why we had an improved feeling late in the race when we had a lighter fuel load. We’ll see.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Bittersweet Saturday. Brad took P1 and then P4 in the two qualifying sessions, one of the best outcomes this year and we cannot complain about that. He also had a great start but then struggled with the front tire temperature for the first laps and missed the chance to go with the leading group. Jack missed Q2 on Friday by a few milliseconds. He couldn’t find a lap today and then a Sprint race from the back is a tough deal. We’ll try to be better tomorrow.”
Emilia Romagna Grand Prix photographs can be found HERE
Results Qualifying MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 1:30.031
2. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +0.214
3. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Ducati +0.533
4. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.605
5. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 +0.700
18. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 1:31.554 (Q1)
19. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:31.695 (Q1)
Results MotoGP Sprint Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 19:50.237
2. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +0.285
3. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Ducati +1.319
5. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 +6.580
6. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +8.143
14. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +19.411
20. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 +25.431
KTM GP Academy
Jose Antonio Rueda had unfinished Moto3 business at Misano. The Aragon Grand Prix winner was a strong competitive force at the San Marino date two weeks previously but was unlucky to be punted out of the race in the opening turns. The Spaniard was 9th fastest in Q2 as the group were divided by slim margins once more. From Pole Position to 14th place the stopwatch counted just 0.8 of a second. In 23rd was Rueda’s teammate Xabi Zurutuza. Moto3 will hurry around the circuit for 20 laps on Sunday morning and at the earlier hour of 10.00 local time.
Celestino Vietti and Deniz Öncü were riders that wanted more rewards from a second attempt at the Adriatic venue in Moto2. Vietti had qualified in P2 two weekends before but had slid out of the race and Öncü’s learning curve in the category has shallowed nicely as the Turk continues to come up to speed. After an intense Q2 on Saturday (Öncü could not escape Q1 and ranked 27th) Vietti was staggeringly close to Pole Position. He had to accept 4th and the top of the second row but was just 0.037 from the peak of the time sheets. The Moto2 Grand Prix will consist of 22 laps.
Results Qualifying Moto3 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1. Taiyo Furusato (JPN) Honda 1:40.394
2. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO +0.059
3. Angel Piqueras (ESP), Honda +0.066
6. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna +0.220
9. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), KTM +0.350
11. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS +0.397
17. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna +1.500
19. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS 1:41.658 (Q1)
22. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO +1:41.903 (Q1)
23. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) KTM 1:41.986 (Q1)
Results Qualifying Moto2 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1. Aron Canet (ESP) 1:34.935
2. Joe Roberts (USA) +0.004
3. Tony Arbolino (ITA) +0.010
4. Celestino Vietti (ITA) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.037
5. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO +0.295
11. Senna Agius (AUS)Husqvarna +0.492
20. Darryn Binder (RSA)Husqvarna 1:35.701 (Q1)
24. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO 1:35.989 (Q1)
27. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo 1:36.474 (Q1)
