JEREZ, Spain: Brad Binder enjoyed his maiden Moto3 victory yesterday after an awe-inspiring display in which the young South African destroyed the field by overtaking each of his opponents at the Spanish GP.
After qualifying second on the grid behind Italian Niccolo Bulega on Saturday, Binder and his Red Bull KTM Ajo team were later demoted to 35th for using unsantioned mapping software – not that the penalty seemed to hinder the 20-year-old.
At the end of the first lap, Binder had carved his way to 21st position and by lap 18, he had completed his rout by forcing the lead from Jorge Navarro of Spain at Turn 6.
Binder would hold his lead, enjoying a sensational win by 3.4 seconds as he became the first South African to win a race in the lightweight class category. He is also the first South African to win a Grand Prix in 35 years.
Speaking to reporters after his victory, Binder said: “I knew I could still do it starting last. All weekend I had been fast on used tyres and I had a good rhythm. To get my first win from last on the grid is incredible.”
Binder now enjoys a 15 point lead on 77 points over Navarro at the top of the Moto3 World Standings and will next participate at the French GP in a fortnight.
Binder started off the season with a runner-up finish in Doha last month, then ended third in the Argentina Grand Prix and again in the US event in Austin Texas, leading for a long time before being slipstreamed in the dash for the chequered flag.
Last season he finished overall sixth in the 18-race schedule with 174 points. His best performance was a second behind Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira at Sepang in Malaysia, with three other podium finishes in the season.
w Italian MotoGP great Valentino Rossi enjoyed one of the most satisfying wins of an extraordinary career by beating his Spanish rivals with a dominant display at their home circuit yesterday.
The 37-year-old Yamaha rider led every lap on the way to his 113th career victory, and record 87th in the top class. He had started on pole position and also set the fastest lap.
Teammate and reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who passed Rossi for a matter of seconds on lap two before being swiftly put back in his place, finished second for his 100th MotoGP podium.
Championship leader and fellow Spaniard Marc Marquez, who had a headline-grabbing spat with Rossi at the end of last season when the Italian accused him of helping Lorenzo, was third for Honda.
After four of the season’s 18 races, and the first in Europe, Marquez has 82 points and Lorenzo 65.
Rossi, whose first win was almost 20 years ago in the 125cc class in 1996, is third with 58.
“This was the perfect weekend,” said the Italian, who will have a new team mate next season with Lorenzo leaving for Ducati, after finishing 2.3 seconds clear.
“The bike in the race was fantastic...I had a good pace, a good start, I feel good with the bike from the beginning so I can push. It was a special taste, a win like this.”
Rossi had not won since last August’s British Grand Prix at a wet Silverstone, but Jerez has been good to him in the past and Sunday was his seventh top flight victory there in 17 starts.
Lorenzo felt he would have won but for tyre problems that forced him to ease off.
“The pace from the beginning was not very fast, said the man who set a lap record on his way to victory in Jerez last year. “Rossi was a little bit faster than me at the beginning of the race but in the middle I could keep the distance.
“When I was catching him, suddenly the centre of the tyre on the straight when I put third, fourth, fifth and sixth gears was spinning like I had wet tyres,” he added.
Marquez had similar problems and said it had been simple damage limitation.
“I tried and pushed behind Lorenzo but I nearly crashed one, two, three times,” he said. “Then I said ‘OK, 16 points for the championship’. These two guys today were faster.” – Reuters, Sports Staff