Spielberg (Austria) (AFP)
South Africa's Brad Binder gave Austria's KTM a Moto2 win at home on Sunday in a multi-incident Austrian GP that also benefited Alex Marquez (Kalex), who finished 2nd his championship lead.
This victory of KTM, the 1st in Moto2 this season, comes the same day the Austrian manufacturer has announced that it will no longer officially enter Moto2 next year to favor the MotoGP.
Binder, who will be competing with KTM in the premier class next year, has also offered a 24-year-old gift by running the race almost end-to-end on his birthday after starting 2nd on the grid.
"I can not think of a better day with a win for my birthday and on the home track for KTM," said the South African who finished third in the Moto2 Championship last year after winning the Moto3 title in 2016.
The race was marked by numerous incidents that successively eliminated in the leading group the Japanese Tetsuta Nagashima, gone on pole, the Spaniard Xavi Virgin, the Australian Remy Gardner then the Italians Enea Bastianini and Luca Marini.
All this made the business of Alex Marquez, the brother of the five-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez. Starting 11th, he escaped the carnage, even though Gardner fell after hitting him.
"It was very difficult and tricky conditions with a very slippery track, and starting 11th was really hard but it's nice to be on the podium," he said after the race. He now has a 43-point lead over his immediate next, Switzerland's Thomas Lüthi (Kalex), 6th in Austria, while there are still 8 events on the calendar.
. Ranking of the Moto2 race, 11th round of the championship, played Sunday at the Spielberg circuit (4,318 km)
1. Brad Binder (AFS / KTM) the 25 laps in 37: 24.963 or 173.1 km / h average
2. Alex Marquez (ESP / Kalex) at 0.330
3. Jorge Navarro (ESP / SpeedUp) at 1.839
4. Lorenzo Baldassari (ITA / Kalex) at 2.183
5. Augusto Fernandez (ESP / Kalex) at 3.303
. Ranking of the world championship after 11 events:
1. Alex Marquez (ESP / Kalex): 181 points
2. Thomas Lüthi (Sui / Kalex): 138 points
3. Jorge Navarro (ESP / SpeedUp): 126 points
4. Augusto Fernandez (ESP / Kalex): 121 points
5. Lorenzo Baldassari (ITA / Kalex): 115 points
© 2019 AFP