Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had good reason to view the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas with strong cause for optimism considering the increased competitiveness and continued progression with the current RC16 motorcycle. Jack Miller was holding a podium position at COTA until a mid-race slip while Brad Binder was also among the fastest on track in Texas until he also had to recover from an error and still made the flag in 13th place.
The stifling heat of COTA on Saturday had blown away in a stiff breeze to be replaced by sunshine and colder temperatures for the Grand Prix distances on Sunday. Jack Miller and Brad Binder throttled their KTM RC16s from the fourth row of the grid and for the 20-lap distance and it was Miller who made the sharper start around the long 20-corner layout.
Jack was holding a clear 3rd position when he lost control through the chicane and slid out of the reckoning at mid-race distance. Binder was making progress from the depths of the top ten as the group disputing positions for the top five began to close up and narrow. Brad spun out through Turn 15 only a few laps after Miller had departed the race. He was able to pick up the bike and rally to 13th for 3 valuable points.
After three of 21 rounds, Binder is 9th in the championship standings while Miller is close in 12th. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will be able to go for trophies again at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Gran Premio MotoGP Guru by Gryfyn de España in two weeks.
Brad Binder, 13th: “The whole weekend here in Austin has been a lot more positive than we might have expected beforehand, based-off our experiences here in the last years. I wasn’t super-happy yesterday but I managed 5th which was fantastic. Today I had high hopes but unfortunately I switched my line going into Turn 1 at the start and it was a big mistake on my part. I ended up getting caught in the chaos on the first lap. I tried my best. I struggled with the front tire up until a few laps before I crashed. At that moment I was confident and was started to push. Then it just snapped away from me on one of the little left-handers. Luckily, I was able to remount and we still got three points. As frustrating as today was we are not walking away empty-handed. For me it was also a lesson, especially from my mistake at the start. At Jerez we will go a hell-of-a-lot better.”
Jack Miller, DNF: “Unfortunate one. I felt really good from the get-go. I made a decent start, felt comfortable and was settled into the race. I swapped a map and then she let go of me. I was really trying to manage the tires and I felt we had a great chance of being there until the end. The positive part was the speed and how we were up there with the guys. We’ll take that from the weekend. We’ll learn from the negatives and go towards Jerez with a clean mind.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “A tough Sunday. We cannot blame our riders today because many were on the limit with the front tires and we saw many crashes. The good part is that both riders felt good on the bike and we know we can do much better than this result sheet. Jack was on for the podium for half the race and then went down in a corner where he hadn’t had any warning the whole weekend. That’s racing; everybody is on the limit. Brad had good comments. He got stuck in the first corner and ran into some moments with other riders going down. At one point he was the fastest rider on track. We have some signs from this grand prix and that’s why we are looking forward to Jerez now.”
Results MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda 41:14.649
2. Luca Marini (ITA) Ducati +3.498
3. Fabio Quartararo (FRA) Yamaha +4.936
13. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1:23.012
DNF. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
World championship standings MotoGP
1. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Ducati, 64 points
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati, 53
3. Alex Rins (ESP) Honda, 47
9. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 30
12. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 26
Ivan Ortola steered his KTM RC4 to victory for the very first time in a gripping Moto3 Grand Prix that saw six different riders chasing the checkered flag. The Spaniard was closely followed as five racers were split by just over half a second at the line. Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Daniel Holgado was part of the group and his 5th position represented another decent points haul as the Spaniard maintains his grip on P1 at the top of the championship standings.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Deniz Öncü was adrift but headed the second clique. The Turk scored 6th for his best result of the season so far. Teammate Jose Rueda took another top ten classification and is a promising 8th in the championship points table. Rookie Filippo Farioli rode to 18th.
The Moto2 Grand Prix was one of the most exciting events of the day. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Pedro Acosta recovered from a small mistake in the formative stages to embark on an epic duel with rival Tony Arbolino for the win. A bold overtaking move on the final lap was the difference – along with just 0.146 of a second – when the flag fell at COTA. The feat was Acosta’s second 25-pointer of the season. Albert Arenas obtained 12th position.
Results Moto3 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Ivan Ortola (ESP) KTM 32:01.062
2. Jaume Masia (ESP) Honda +0.457
3. Xavier Artigas (ESP), CFMOTO +0.558
5. Daniel Holgado (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +0.657
6. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo +9.493
10. Jose Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +10.085
18. Filippo Farioli (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3 +24.401
World championship standings Moto3
1. Daniel Holgado (ESP) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 49 points
2. Diogo Moreira (BRA) KTM, 49
3. Xavier Artigas (ESP) CFMOTO, 32
8. Jose Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 19
13. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 16
NC. Filippo Farioli (ITA) Red Bull KTM Tech3, 0
Results Moto2 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas
1. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo 34:42.879
2. Tony Arbolino (ITA) +0.146
3. Bo Bendsneyder (NED) +5.851
12. Albert Arenas (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +13.649
World championship standings Moto2
1. Tony Arbolino (ITA), 61 points
2. Pedro Acosta (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 54
3. Aron Canet (ESP), 41
10. Albert Arenas (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 19