Binder Takes Stunning Home Win For KTM In Austria
Calum Gill 14:16 15/08/2021
Brad Binder gave KTM an astonishing home MotoGP victory in the Austrian Grand Prix, staying out on slicks in increasing rain to take the chequered flag first.
Binder finished at a virtual walking pace, but was still 13 seconds clear of the best of the erstwhile leaders who had come in for wet tyres. The threat of rain had loomed throughout the race, with lightning in the distance and an early shower hinting at what was to come.
Francesco Bagnaia led the majority of the event for Ducati, though polesitter Jorge Martín and championship leader Fabio Quartararo both nosed ahead for brief periods as a 10-bike lead train developed - Quartararo pulling off some astonishing moves to make up for his Yamaha’s lack of straightline speed with bold passing under braking and in fast corners. Bagnaia, Quartararo and Marc Márquez made a slight break in the middle of the race, with Martín lurking just behind and Johann Zarco following until he crashed at the penultimate corner on lap 18.
An early shower didn’t amount to anything, but then rain began to fall again heading into the closing stages. Jack Miller and Álex Rins dived into the pits from ninth and 10th places on lap 23 of 28 to change to wets, a move that was slightly premature at that point. As the rain increased, Bagnaia, Márquez and Quartararo were joined at the front by Martín, Joan Mir and Binder in a brilliant six-way lead battle, and Márquez edged into the lead out of the first corner.
All of that pack bar Binder then pitted for wets with three laps to go, with the KTM rider one of nine who decided to try to brave it out on slicks as the track got wetter and wetter. While Márquez crashed at the first corner, even after changing bikes, Bagnaia and Martín emerged at the front of the group on wets and began scorching through those teetering around the lap on slicks still. But Binder handled the conditions incredibly, crossing the line so far ahead that he was able to pick up a final-lap track limits penalty and still win by 10 seconds over Bagnaia and Martín.
Mir reached fourth, while Luca Marini and Iker Lecuona hung in there on slicks to complete the top six. Quartararo lost ground going wide at Turn 1 just as Marquez crashed and finished seventh. Valentino Rossi stayed on slicks and briefly looked like he might steal a podium before falling back to eighth ahead of fellow slicks runners Álex Márquez and Aleix Espargaró. Miller and Rins’ early bike swaps left them 11th and 14th, sandwiching Danilo Petrucci and Takaaki Nakagami, with Márquez remounting to take the final point. Binder’s team-mate Miguel Oliveira was a top 10 runner for much of the race but crashed just as the main rain shower began.
