KTM pair Binder, Oliveira reel as T1 clash ruins qualifying efforts
Having stolen the headlines on Saturday with their career-best runs to fifth and seventh on the grid for the Andalucia MotoGP, KTM stablemates Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira saw their highest hopes for the race unravel dramatically just seconds into it when they clashed at Turn 1.
A typical first corner incident occurring as the field bunched into the right-hander, Binder admits he was distracted by Danilo Petrucci coming up the inside of him, preventing him from responding in time to not tag the rear wheel on Oliveira’s Tech 3 KTM.
Sending the Portuguese rider down and off his bike – before getting another solid thump from Binder’s bike as he came through upright - the South African continued on at the back of the field. However, despite showing pace that at one stage was almost on a par with runaway leader Fabio Quartararo, a high-side would bring his weekend to a spectacular halt.
“Today definitely did not go to plan and the worst thing was that I destroyed the race for Miguel. He’d had a great weekend up until then and I’m sure he would have had a strong race. Really sorry about that. I had a good start and I didn’t see Danilo on the inside and when I picked up it was already too late.
“I couldn’t avoid Miguel. When I saw the crash I was really worried so I’m glad he’s OK. After that my race was already difficult. I tried my best to track my way through the field. #
“I kept working and pushing and coming into the last corner I tucked the front and I tried to pick it up but it gripped and highsided. Luckily I’m OK and we’ll try again next time.”
Oliveira was maintaining a relatively philosophical tone in the circumstances, choosing to focus on the positives of getting himself up onto the second row of the grid in the first place.
“I was just an unlucky guy in this position but there was really nothing I could do to avoid the crash. It was the first corner, everyone wants to gain positions, so it’s normal that sometimes we misjudge braking points and we are too optimistic. We have more races this year so it’s not the end of the world. We’ll take the positives from this weekend and we continue on to the next one.”
