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Edition

Australia Australia
Race report
Moto2 Spielberg

Red Bull Ring Moto2: Binder ends KTM winless run in chaotic race

Ajo KTM rider Brad Binder withstood massive pressure to win at the Red Bull Ring on his birthday as several frontrunners crashed.

Brad Binder, KTM Ajo

Binder took the lead off the line and, along with Xavi Vierge and pole-sitter Tetsuta Nagashima, broke away from the rest of the field.

But the group's breakaway only lasted three laps when Vierge smashed into Nagashima at Turn 4, resulting in a massive crash.

Binder was given a breathing room thanks to the crash, but was slowly reeled in by a group led by Enea Bastianini.

After some tussling, Remy Gardner got up to second with a triple overtake at Turn 4, and the Australian was soon all over Binder.

Gardner made several overtaking attempts but all of them occurred at Turn 1, and he was unable to make any of the moves stick.

When he ran wide at Turn 1, Bastianini and Alex Marquez joined the fight, but Gardner remained the man to challenge Binder.

Of the top two, it was Gardner cracking under pressure as he went off at Turn 1 again, and hit Marquez's Kalex after rejoining.

Gardner fell in the middle of the circuit as a result, a couple of bikes coming dangerously close to him in the immediate aftermath.

Bastianini was up to second afterwards but he only stayed there for one lap before more drama happened.

In a late-race charge, Luca Marini had snatched third from Marquez, only to then lose his bike at Turn 9 and wipe out Bastianini, who was taken away on a stretcher.

Marquez was next up to chase after Binder but the championship leader did not take any risks and couldn't get close enough to make a move stick.

Binder crossed the line first by three tenths over Marquez, claiming the first win of his and KTM's difficult Moto2 campaign.

With second place, Marquez still extended his championship lead over Tom Luthi, who was only sixth, to 43 points.

Jorge Navarro completed the rostrum, the Speed Up rider taking his fifth podium but still chasing a win this year.

Pons duo Lorenzo Baldassarri and Augusto Fernandez completed the top five from Luthi, who was in podium contention early on but was overtaken by several riders.

Iker Lecuona (American Racing), Marcel Schrotter (Intact) and Mattia Pasini (Tasca) made up the top 10.

Race results:

Cla # Rider Bike Laps Gap
1 41 South Africa Brad Binder
KTM 25
2 73 Spain Alex Marquez
Kalex 25 0.330
3 9 Spain Jorge Navarro
Speed Up 25 1.839
4 7 Italy Lorenzo Baldassarri
Kalex 25 2.183
5 40 Spain Augusto Fernandez
Kalex 25 3.303
6 12 Switzerland Thomas Luthi
Kalex 25 4.645
7 88 Spain Jorge Martin
KTM 25 5.200
8 27 Spain Iker Lecuona
KTM 25 5.285
9 23 Germany Marcel Schrotter
Kalex 25 6.973
10 54 Italy Mattia Pasini
Kalex 25 9.428
11 5 Italy Andrea Locatelli
Kalex 25 11.203
12 35 Thailand Somkiat Chantra
Kalex 25 12.252
13 11 Italy Nicolo Bulega
Kalex 25 13.099
14 21 Italy Fabio Di Giannantonio
Speed Up 25 13.886
15 64 Netherlands Bo Bendsneyder
NTS 25 18.684
16 62 Italy Stefano Manzi
MV 25 20.714
17 77 Switzerland Dominique Aegerter
MV 25 25.000
18 94 Germany Jonas Folger
Kalex 25 25.226
19 96 United Kingdom Jake Dixon
KTM 25 28.471
20 4 South Africa Steven Odendaal
NTS 25 29.993
21 16 United States Joe Roberts
KTM 25 33.876
22 65 Germany Philipp Ottl
KTM 25 34.746
23 72 Italy Marco Bezzecchi
KTM 25 38.031
24 22 United Kingdom Sam Lowes
Kalex 25 44.263
25 19 Teppei Nagoe
Kalex 25 1'00.320
26 18 Andorra Xavi Cardelus
KTM 25 1'00.432
27 3 Germany Lukas Tulovic
KTM 25 1'00.934
33 Italy Enea Bastianini
Kalex 20 5 Laps
10 Italy Luca Marini
Kalex 20 5 Laps
87 Australia Remy Gardner
Kalex 19 6 Laps
45 Japan Tetsuta Nagashima
Kalex 7 18 Laps
97 Spain Xavi Vierge
Kalex 3 22 Laps

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