Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon
FIM Moto3 World Championship
Motorland Aragon, Alcaniz, Spain
September 25, 2016
Race Results (all on Dunlop tires):
1. Jorge NAVARRO, Spain (HONDA), 20 Laps, Total Race Time 39:56.973
2. Brad BINDER, South Africa (KTM), -0.030 second
3. Enea BASTIANINI, Italy (HONDA), -0.107
4. Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO, Italy (Honda), -0.162
5. Joan MIR, Spain (KTM), -1.724 seconds
6. Jorge MARTIN, Spain (Mahindra), -1.903
7. Aron CANET, Spain (Honda), -1.979
8. Gabriel RODRIGO, Spain (KTM), -3.008
9. Juanfran GUEVARA, Spain (KTM), -3.101
10. Phillip OETTL, Germany (KTM), -3.559
30. Gabriel MARTINEZ-ABREGO, Mexico (MAHINDRA), -105.935
Moto3 World Championship Point Standings (after 14 of 18 races)
1. Brad Binder, 249 points (Clinches 2016 World Championship)
2. Navarro, 143
3. Bastianni, 139
4. Mir, 117
5. Nicolo Bulega, 113
6. Di Giannantonio, 111
7. Francesco Bagnaia 110
8. Romano Fenati, 93
9. Nicolo Antonelli, 81
10. Jakub Kornfeil, 80
More, from a press release issued by KTM:
KTM’S BRAD BINDER 2016 MOTO3 WORLD CHAMPION
14th Rd. Moto3 2016 – MotorLand Aragon (ESP)
Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Brad Binder on Sunday wrapped up the 2016 Moto3 World Championship title after taking second place in a dogfight finish at the Aragon circuit in Spain. Binder, of South Africa, took the title with four rounds still in hand.
“Today we lost the battle but we won the war,” an emotional Brad Binder commented in the finish area. He had hoped to go out with a win but had to settle for second place behind Jorge Navarro. Enea Bastianini, Binder’s closest rival for the title before the race finished third.
Binder went to Aragon with a strong change of taking the title. He had a 106-point lead and knew he needed to finish the race with a 100-point advantage to get the job done. He needed either a win or a second place on his KTM RC250 GP, and after that there was a baffling list of point possibilities that would still let him win the prize.
There was a lot at stake for the Italian Bastianini who was the only rider with a chance of spoiling Binder’s party. He fought hard all the way but also admitted in the finish area that the South African had been faster on the day. Binder leaves Aragon as he arrived, 106 point ahead and with now four races and 100 points still up for grabs. Navarro’s win bumps him up to second in the rankings, four points ahead of Bastianini, and KTM riders Joan Mir and Nicolo Bulega are currently 4-5.
Binder: “Right now it doesn’t feel real yet. The race was tough. It came down to the final lap. I knew where I had to be and I gave it a try but I was so terrible in the last corner. Today we lost the battle but we won the war.”
Before the race, tension was palpable, as the riders lined up on a grid that looked nothing like the results sheets in qualifying. Many riders incurred ride slow penalties from the previous day and Belgian Livio Loi was bumped off the front row to start at the back after his team was deemed to have a technical irregularity with his bike. This left Binder at the fifth grid position, two up on his seventh fastest in qualifying.
Binder, Bastianini and Navarro were the major players throughout the 20-lap race on the Spanish circuit, and it quickly developed into a battle of wits, race craft and guts. Bastianini was determined to extend his chances of closing the gap, and Navarro, who has had a difficult season with injury, was equally determined to take the race win and put himself back in contention. These three riders exchanged the lead during the first half of the race, joined by KTM rider Philipp Oettl in laps 7,8 and 9. The battle intensified from lap 13, then in the next lap Binder lost drive going through the Carlos Checa corner and dropped to fourth.
Binder rebounded in lap 16 and swept from fourth into the lead. He was again forced wide in lap 18 and dropped back to fourth, which put him one point away from the title. Then, going into the final lap there was virtually nothing separating the top four riders, Bastianini, Binder, Navarro and Italian Fabio Di Giannantonio. Navarro hit the front with four corners to go and in the closing stages Binder slipped past Bastianini into second and the title was his.
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Race 1
Two points – all that separates Ayumu Sasaki from the 2016 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup. The 15-year-old Japanese crossed the line fourth after 15 thrilling laps of Motorland Aragon while his rival Aleix Viu took second behind Kaito Toba and ahead of Rory Skinner.
It was a fabulous six rider battle to the line and Sasaki thought he had the title. “I knew I just had to follow Aleix, I was third into the last corner and that would give me the Cup. Then Rory got inside me, I still thought it was OK as I could drive past on the exit but Rory wobbled, I thought he might hit me and I just rolled off a fraction. The race pace really was too slow. Because of the slipstream you can’t get away and we were stuck together but we should have gone quicker. Rory caught us and then on the last lap Fernández almost did the same. Now I just need one more point tomorrow, I just have to keep calm and concentrate.”
In fact he needs two points as Viu would have to win on Sunday to match his total. They would then have three wins each but Viu has more second places so would take the Cup in the event of a points tie.
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Brad Binder
2016 Moto3 World Champion
A look back at the South African world champion’s journey – from then, until now
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) began his journey to world champion as a Red Bull Rookie in 2009, making steady progress before 2012 and his first full time entry onto the world stage with RW Racing GP. He took 24 points in a solid rookie season – using that as a foundation for the year after as he moved to Ambrogio Racing and ended the year 13th in the title, ready for the next step: get on the podium.
2014 was the year Binder first enjoyed the taste of cava on the world championship stage with two rostrum finishes, setting the scene for a move to Red Bull KTM Ajo, with the South African ready to join a team so often a title-challenger in the lower class.
Beginning 2016 with three podiums in a row and a pole position in Argentina, the fuse on his championship challenge was really lit at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez, in which he took his maiden win. Starting from the back of the grid after a technical infringement, the South African fought his way back through with almost unbelievable aggression and speed, soon heading the second group and on the way to catching the front freight train in the Moto3™ battle. Arriving with laps to spare, the 2016 Moto3™world champion then passed his rivals and tucked back in – taking the victory with a comfortable margin and announcing his intentions for the year. With his first win under his belt, Binder’s success simply continued to roll, winning the two subsequent races and suffering only one DNF in wet conditions in Brno; crashing out the lead in the Czech GP proving the only blot on his 2016 record.
Four more wins and a stunning 106 point margin upon arrival to the Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon in September saw Binder with his first mathematical shot at the title – and the odds were not long.
Qualifying in P7 and then keeping his cool despite the crown waiting for him at the finish line, Binder raced how he knows how – to win. With Bastianini and Navarro initially breaking away at the front, the South African kept himself in it and laid it on the line into the final corner – not quite enough for the victory, but more than enough for the championship as he crossed the line only 0.030 off winner Navarro.
Binder is the first man ever to be crowned at MotorLand Aragon, becoming the third South African champion in history after one of the most incredible title campaigns in recent seasons.
SOME FACTS ABOUT BRAD BINDER