Binder falls on sighting lap, Oliveira out 'a few laps from the podium'
KTM team manager Mike Leitner hopes the factory has got all its bad luck for the rest of the season out of the way in one race after a nightmare Emilia Romagna MotoGP.
Brad Binder was the only KTM rider to reach the chequered flag, but the South African had to make a last-minute switch to his spare bike after falling on the sighting lap to the grid.
Binder progressed from 20th on the grid to 12th place before receiving a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits, dropping him back to 14th. Helped by some late crashes he was able to peak in tenth, before losing a place to Valentino Rossi to in the final lap.
“All in all, I’d say today is a day to forget," commented Binder. "I felt quite good for the race and chose the harder tyre option. I wanted to feel what it was like on the sighting lap but I didn’t have my brakes warm enough going down the back straight and I locked up the front wheel. Not clever. That’s the first time I’ve ever crashed on the sighting lap: not good at all.
"I felt like I was coming along in the race but I wouldn’t describe it as solid. I’d like to know where I touched the green limits for the long lap. I’m really sorry to the team and all the guys for the confusing weekend. I’m glad Misano is over and we’ll do better in Portimao.”
One of the places Binder gained in the closing stages was at the expense of team-mate Oliveira, who crashed just 30-seconds after a mistake by race leader Francesco Bagnaia had moved him into a podium position behind Pol Espargaro.
"A shame not to finish but a really strong weekend and race," said Oliveira, winner in Mugello but without a top ten finish since the summer break. "We struggled a bit more right at the end and I crashed on a very slow corner. We’re happy with the small progress that we made and we’ll keep going for my home GP next.”
“Today is a bit frustrating because we were only a few laps from the podium but then we had a crash on the slowest corner," Leitner said. "It’s a shame because Miguel had such a strong weekend and it would have been a nice result for all of us. It’s racing and we have to deal with it.
"Brad didn’t have an easy weekend, even from the out-lap but he came back to 11th and you cannot expect much more in this category when you start from the back of the grid."
Adding to the KTM misery were accidents for Tech3 riders Danilo Petrucci and Iker Lecuona.
"I hope we’ve had all the bad luck for the rest of the season in that race and also when it comes to the Tech3 guys, especially for Danilo who had his last GP in Italy.
"We’ll go to Portimao and hope for better.”
Red Bull Ring winner Binder is seventh in the world championship, 16 points from Johann Zarco in fourth place with Sunday's winner Marc Marquez and factory Ducati's Jack Miller in-between.
Oliveira is tenth, 14 from Maverick Vinales and 21 from the other Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro.
