Binder “sorry to mess up” Dutch MotoGP podium chances

The South African rider crossed the line in third place in both the sprint and grand prix races, but was demoted by officials on both occasions.

After multiple infractions in the Saturday race, he received a three-second time penalty in lieu of a long-lap penalty he couldn’t take due to the late notice. This dropped him from third to fifth, with Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo inheriting a podium.

While in Sunday’s grand prix, touching the green paint at Turn 8 – the same corner that had got him into trouble in the sprint – on the last lap earned him an automatic one-place drop, as per the rules, gifting third place to Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

“I am extremely sorry to my team,” said Binder. “Because I took away two podiums from them.

“They’ve done a great job and put in huge effort. I’m sorry to mess it up like that for them. But it is what it is, and I’ll try to make up for it at Silverstone.

“The thing is, the rules are the rules. I feel like f****** brain-dead to do it again.”

Binder said he was unaware of straying onto the green paint on both occasions.

“Again on the last lap, I didn’t even know I had touched it. We got to Turn 1 and Aleix was pointing at the green. Then I was just like, ‘okay, whatever.’

“Then I saw it on the TV and thought, ‘how did I do that again?’

“I went over by a couple of millimetres again, but it is what it is. End of story!”

Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Adding to the Sunday disappointment was the fact that Binder had made his soft-tyre gamble work by bringing the Austrian bike home third on the road.

“We decided to go with the soft rear and try to make it to the end. I had an unreal start. Then my priority was to look after the right side of the tyre. And I almost made it. But in the last two laps I had a really big drop.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever been able to go softer than anybody else on the rear and make it to the end. That’s not my strongest point as a rider, so I’m proud of that small accomplishment.

“But it would have been nice to have two podiums for sure!”