Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) claimed the first South African intermediate class win since 1980 at the Pramac Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland after a sublime ride, beating Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) to victory as the Spaniard claimed his best Moto2™ result in second, with Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) claiming his first Grand Prix podium in third.
The opening stages of the Moto2™ race where chaotic. First, Miguel Oliveria (Red Bull KTM Ajo) had a moment on the last corner of the opening lap, luckily staying on after getting out of shape – making contact with the helpless Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP). Then a lap later, Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) crashed out of P2 at the same corner, with Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46) having to take avoiding action, running into the gravel and dropping down to 26th. The drama wasn’t over, with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) highsiding out of contention at T2 on lap three, leaving Marini, Mir and Binder at the front.
The Italian held station at the front, before Mir went up the inside at Turn 1 to take the lead of the race. Five laps later, Binder then made his move, first getting past Marini at Turn 1 before slicing his way through on race leader Mir at the bottom of the Ralf Waldmann corner. The South African wasn’t able to create a gap, but his lap 10 move proved to be the race winning overtake, with Binder looking like he was on rails around the Sachsenring as he eventually claimed victory by 0.779 seconds, with 0.154 splitting Mir and Marini in P2 and P3.
Further back, Oliveira had re-grouped and got himself up to fourth after passing Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors) and home rider Marcel Schroetter (Dynavolt Intact GP). The Portuguese rider couldn’t bridge the gap to the front three though and settled for P4, with Lowes getting the better of Schroetter on the last lap to claim his best result of the season in fifth – the German sixth at his home Grand Prix.
After his tangle with Oliveira, Vierge crossed the line P7, with Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2), Fabio Quartararo (MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing) and Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) rounding out the top 10.
Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) produced a gritty ride as he continues his return from two broken legs, with Bagnaia brilliantly salvaging P12 – his Championship lead now cut to seven points though. 13th was Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) after his heavy Saturday crash, with Dominique Aegerter 14th (Kiefer Racing) and Augusto Fernandez (Pons HP40) earning another point scoring ride in 15th.
So, it was a magnificent maiden Moto2™ victory for Binder, while the Championship pendulum swings again with Oliveira cutting the gap to Bagnaia as the paddock heads for the summer break.
PRAMAC MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX DEUTSCHLAND
Moto2 Race Classification 2018.
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 155.0 | 39’46.306 |
2 | 20 | 36 | Joan MIR | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 155.0 | +0.779 |
3 | 16 | 10 | Luca MARINI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 155.0 | +0.933 |
4 | 13 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 154.9 | +2.143 |
5 | 11 | 22 | Sam LOWES | GBR | Swiss Innovative Investors | KTM | 154.6 | +6.376 |
6 | 10 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 154.6 | +6.513 |
7 | 9 | 97 | Xavi VIERGE | SPA | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 154.0 | +15.544 |
8 | 8 | 24 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Kalex | 154.0 | +15.674 |
9 | 7 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 154.0 | +16.004 |
10 | 6 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 154.0 | +16.005 |
11 | 5 | 87 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 153.9 | +16.596 |
12 | 4 | 42 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 153.9 | +17.304 |
13 | 3 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 153.9 | +17.458 |
14 | 2 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Kiefer Racing | KTM | 153.8 | +18.138 |
15 | 1 | 40 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | SPA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 153.5 | +23.816 |
16 | 13 | Romano FENATI | ITA | Marinelli Snipers Team | Kalex | 153.4 | +24.611 | |
17 | 89 | Khairul Idham PAWI | MAL | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 153.4 | +25.617 | |
18 | 4 | Steven ODENDAAL | RSA | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 153.2 | +28.019 | |
19 | 27 | Iker LECUONA | SPA | Swiss Innovative Investors | KTM | 153.2 | +28.173 | |
20 | 64 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NED | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 152.7 | +36.398 | |
21 | 51 | Eric GRANADO | BRA | Forward Racing Team | Suter | 152.4 | +40.199 | |
22 | 16 | Joe ROBERTS | USA | NTS RW Racing GP | NTS | 152.4 | +41.509 | |
23 | 21 | Federico FULIGNI | ITA | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Kalex | 151.0 | +1’04.024 | |
24 | 18 | Xavi CARDELUS | AND | Team Stylobike | Kalex | 144.5 | 1 Lap | |
25 | 62 | Stefano MANZI | ITA | Forward Racing Team | Suter | 112.7 | 7 Laps | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | SAG Team | Kalex | 151.8 | 12 Laps | ||
52 | Danny KENT | GBR | MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 153.8 | 21 Laps | ||
45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 151.3 | 24 Laps | ||
7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 152.7 | 26 Laps | ||
54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 153.6 | 27 Laps | ||
5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 149.5 | 27 Laps | ||
Not Starting | ||||||||
95 | Jules DANILO | FRA | Nashi Argan SAG Team | Kalex | 0 Lap |
Moto2 World Standing 2018.
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Kalex | ITA | 148 |
2 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | POR | 141 |
3 | Alex MARQUEZ | Kalex | SPA | 113 |
4 | Joan MIR | Kalex | SPA | 95 |
5 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Kalex | ITA | 93 |
6 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 91 |
7 | Xavi VIERGE | Kalex | SPA | 79 |
8 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Kalex | GER | 73 |
9 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Speed Up | FRA | 72 |
10 | Mattia PASINI | Kalex | ITA | 63 |
11 | Luca MARINI | Kalex | ITA | 43 |
12 | Sam LOWES | KTM | GBR | 39 |
13 | Iker LECUONA | KTM | SPA | 32 |
14 | Simone CORSI | Kalex | ITA | 31 |
15 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Kalex | ITA | 27 |
16 | Dominique AEGERTER | KTM | SWI | 24 |
17 | Jorge NAVARRO | Kalex | SPA | 23 |
18 | Remy GARDNER | Tech 3 | AUS | 20 |
19 | Hector BARBERA | Kalex | SPA | 10 |
20 | Romano FENATI | Kalex | ITA | 9 |
21 | Isaac VIÑALES | Kalex | SPA | 7 |
22 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Kalex | SPA | 7 |
23 | Stefano MANZI | Suter | ITA | 6 |
24 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Kalex | JPN | 6 |
25 | Danny KENT | Speed Up | GBR | 4 |
26 | Joe ROBERTS | NTS | USA | 2 |
27 | Steven ODENDAAL | NTS | RSA | 1 |
28 | Khairul Idham PAWI | Kalex | MAL | 1 |
29 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | Tech 3 | NED | |
30 | Edgar PONS | Kalex | SPA | |
31 | Niki TUULI | Kalex | FIN | |
32 | Eric GRANADO | Suter | BRA | |
33 | Jules DANILO | Kalex | FRA | |
34 | Hector GARZO | Tech 3 | SPA | |
35 | Lukas TULOVIC | KTM | GER | |
36 | Federico FULIGNI | Kalex | ITA | |
37 | Xavi CARDELUS | Kalex | AND | |
38 | Dimas EKKY PRATAMA | Honda | INA | |
39 | Corentin PEROLARI | Transformiers | FRA | |
40 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | Kalex | MAL | |
41 | Cedric TANGRE | Tech 3 | FRA |
Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com