Brno (Czech Republic) (AFP)

First success for the South African Brad Binder and his KTM team in MotoGP, return to the podium of Frenchman Johann Zarco, 3rd: the outcome of the Czech Republic Grand Prix on Sunday will have surprised more than one!

To complete this unusual picture, the Italian Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha-SRT) is 2nd, for his first podium in the premier class.

In difficulty with his tires in the last laps, the French Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha-SRT), winner of the first two rounds of the season and leader of the world championship, is only 7th. He nevertheless increased his lead in the riders' standings to 17 points behind his Spanish runner-up Maverick Vinales (Yamaha), only 14th in the GP.

For Zarco, this seventh podium in MotoGP, which follows the sixth pole position won on Saturday, comes after a complicated 2019, marked by his separation from KTM in the middle of the season for lack of results.

The 30-year-old rider regained a starting place in 2020 with the modest Ducati-Avintia team, which had never before known the honors of the pole and the podium, with the objective of conquering a better bike next year. at the Italian brand.

- Binder winner after three races -

Arrived in MotoGP in 2017, KTM had never won and had only one podium until then: a 3rd place for the Spaniard Pol Espargaro at the end of 2018.

A novice in the category, Binder, Moto3 champion in 2016 and Moto2 runner-up in 2019, each time with the Austrian brand, offers him this success after only three races in 2020! It is also the first victory for a South African among the elite.

Note also the 5th place of the Italian Valentino Rossi (Yamaha), who will have to wait for his 200th podium in the category, and the 11th of his compatriot Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati), who had completely missed his qualifications (18th).

The reigning champion, the Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda), was forfeited after being operated on Monday for a fractured right humerus, like the Italian Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati-Pramac), who fell Friday in free practice and operated a fracture of the right tibia.

The drivers immediately follow two rounds in Austria, on the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, on August 16 and 23, again without Marquez and Bagnaia.

In Moto2, the Italian Enea Bastianini (Kalex) won his second victory in a row and takes the lead of the championship with 15 points ahead of his Italian runner-up Luca Marini (Kalex). The Briton Sam Lowes (Kalex), who had not known the places of honor since 2016, and the American Joe Roberts (Kalex), for his first podium in the World, accompanied him on the box.

Italian Dennis Foggia (Honda) clinched his first Moto3 victory after two third places in 2018 and 2019. He shares the podium with Spaniard Albert Arenas (KTM), who increases his lead at the top of the league to 18 points. rider classification, and the Japanese Ai Ogura (Honda).

© 2020 AFP