Red Bull KTM Factory Racing scorched the asphalt at the Circuit of the Americas as Brad Binder dashed to 5th position in Texas on Saturday. The third MotoGP Sprint of the season whet the appetite for the Grand Prix on Sunday and while Binder was top five, Jack Miller captured 9th. Both riders started from decent grid positions of 10th and 11th after morning qualification.
5th place in the Sprint for Brad Binder who launched from the fourth row
Jack Miller again shows his ability for the Texan track with a good start and a top ten result
Both Red Bull KTM RC16s make direct Q2 qualification for the first time this season
Daniel Holgado to start from 5th on the Moto3™ grid as Pedro Acosta earns 2nd in Moto2™ Q2
Warm and humid conditions opened the second day of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas and the tenth visit by the world championship to the sprawling and challenging track south of Austin. Decent work on Friday in both Practice 1 and 2 sessions meant both Brad Binder and Jack Miller found times in the top ten of the standings and achieved direct Q2 entry for Saturday. This helped provide a platform to increase the competitiveness of the RC16 set-up, conserve tire allocation and guarantee slots on the first rows of the grid.
During the decisive Q2 session Miller was hunting the fringes of the top five until small slips at the low-speed Turn 1 and 14 on two separate occasions foiled his attempt to be further forward. He rested in 10th and was just two tenths of a second ahead of Binder in 11th. The track’s grip level had lowered after some overnight rain and the conditions were tricky to judge for the 10-lap Tissot Sprint.
Despite a hair-raising first lap with a few ‘moments’, Binder diligently applied his pace and racecraft to the affair and worked his way up to a decent 5th position. Only a few places and seconds behind was Miller, in 9th. The team plan to use the data from the Sprint to analyze and reset for optimum performance in the 20-lap Grand Prix tomorrow; that begins after the Moto3 and Moto2 races and is set for 21.00 CET.
Brad Binder, 11th in qualification, 5th in the Sprint: “Today was difficult. The conditions were different to what we have had so far this weekend and the grip level changed a lot. The first lap was sketchy and I struggled to roll around the corners. I lost a lot of time because of that but once I had my bearings I could move forward. It was a hard race today but hats-off to the team and my guys because we have made a big step from last year where we would have dreamed of being 5th. We need that last step for tomorrow and I think it will be a different story with that full race distance…but it should work in our favor.”
Jack Miller, 10th in qualification, 9th in the Sprint: “It was a struggle during the first three quarters of the race. I was searching for drive out of the corners. I was getting a lot of spin and the track had changed overnight with the rain and it threw the balance of the bike. We made a step in the right direction but we need to find a bit more for tomorrow. We had to play a patient game with the front tire as the temperature just rocketed. We have a great package but we just need to dial-it-in and get it near perfect because we almost had it yesterday.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “The different conditions on track this morning meant we struggled for a while. In the Sprint though we enjoyed our normal good starts. Brad built a good race pace and finished 5th although there were issues with rear grip. A top five was acceptable for us in the circumstances and especially because he ran wide a couple of times: the lack of rear grip affected him in the hard braking zones. Anyway he found good pace again and he kept his position. In general it was a good race. Jack had two small crashes this morning but finished the Sprint to get one point. We will try to fix everything for tomorrow’s race although it looks like it might be different again because the temperatures are set to drop. We will have ten minutes in the warm-up to try and get everything sorted.”
Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas photographs can be found HERE
Results Qualifying MotoGPRed Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 2:01.892
2. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda +0.160
3. Luca Marini (ITA) Ducati +0.289
10. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1.192
11. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1.215
Results MotoGP Sprint Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 20:35.270
2. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda +2.545
3. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +4.706
5. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +8.175
9. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +12.448
KTM GP Academy
KTM locked out four of the first six positions on the initial two rows of the Moto3 grid with the KTM RC4. Furthest forward was Ivan Ortola in 3rd with Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Daniel Holgado not far away in 5th place, despite the Spaniard suffering a fall in Q2 that disrupted the key qualifying session. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jose Rueda was in 11th spot and with teammate Deniz Öncü right behind him on the fifth row and located 14th. Rookie Filippo Farioli was 20th.
Pedro Acosta showed more evidence of his fine (and rapid) development by posting the quickest lap-time after both Practice sessions on Friday. The Spaniard, who fell and struggled at COTA in 2022 in what was his first Moto2 outing at the venue, was confident and settled as he blitzed to 2nd place and just 0.02 from the Pole Position effort on Saturday. Less than a second in arrears, Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Albert Arenas was 13th and will start the Grand Prix from the fifth row.
Pedro Acosta: “Wow, we are improving! Three quails and three first and second rows this season. I am not getting nervous like last year. The team is working so well; not just on the bike but on my head to keep calm and to focus on the things we can control. Thanks to everybody who has been pushing me all winter: we’ll keep going.”
Results Qualifying Moto3 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda 2:16.250
2. Ayumu Sasaki (JPN) Husqvarna +0.101
3. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM +0.306
5. Daniel Holgado (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.662
11. Jose Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +1.433
14. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo +1.748
20. Filippo Farioli (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 2:18.065 (Q1)
Results Qualifying Moto2 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Celestino Vietti (ITA) 2:09.432
2. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.020
3. Filip Salac (CZE) +0.116
13. Albert Arenas (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.979
