Brad Binder says he was not aware he was off track limits during the MotoGP Dutch Grand Prix sprint race on Saturday.
The South African rider crossed the chequered flag in a solid third on his KTM during the sprint but was demoted to fifth after he was handed a three-second long lap penalty for going off track limits on the final lap of the race.
That meant Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, whom Binder kept at bay in the closing stages of the race, moved up to third and fourth respectively.
“Unfortunately, in the race I somehow missed on my dashboard that I had a [track limits] warning already, so I had no idea that I had already touched the green [there],” Binder said.
“I got back to the box and I said to my team, what’s going on? What did I do? And they said I’d touched the green. And honestly, I was still 100% sure I hadn’t touched it once.
“But when I went up to the Stewards, I could see where I’d touched. And unfortunately those couple of millimetres – I was just jumping over the tiniest little piece, but I didn’t even notice.
“It is what it is, the rules are the rules, and I’ll give it a bit more margin tomorrow.
“I think all three [infringements] were exactly the same, it was that little bit going across the kerbs. And I never realised I was [doing it], that’s the problem.
“But anyway, it is what it is. The rules are the rules, so if you nick it, you nick it. I need to take this one and … yeah, f**k, what can you do?”
South Africa's Brad Binder lost his podium in Saturday's #DutchMotoGP sprint race as he was given a 3-second long lap penalty for exceeding track limits.
He drops from 3rd to 5th in the race classification, the same position he will start Sunday's race.#Afrosport #MotorSport pic.twitter.com/PW4I3nix2H
— AfroSport (@AfroSportTV) June 24, 2023
Despite the penalty, Binder said he was happy with the set-up his KTM RC16 bike and is hoping for a positive outing in Sunday’s main race where he will start in fifth place based on his qualifying result.
“Honestly, I was so stoked to ride my bike this morning and feel what they’d changed,” the 27-year-old continued. “I’ve had huge issues with front locking the last few races – well, the whole year actually – and they’ve made that a whole lot better, and then they found something else that gave me a lot more rear grip.
“So I felt so good on my bike, and I need to improve two points tomorrow, and I think we can do really well. Those are onto the main straight and onto the back straight… When I’m on full throttle and don’t feel like I’m going forward. I’m getting murdered there!
“If we can fix that, I think we can be in for a good main race.”
We're disappointed, of course. But it is what it is. We can take away the positive of knowing we can be right up there in tomorrow's main race. ????
Thanks for the love, Orange squad! pic.twitter.com/UJ9RNonWmF
— Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) June 24, 2023
VR46 Racing’s Marco Bezzecchi won the sprint race ahead of reigning MotoGP World champion Francesco Bagnaia. It was the first-ever sprint race victory of the Italian team owned by seven-time MotoGP champion Valentino Rossi.
Binder remains fifth in the world championship standings and is now 68 points current leader Bagnaia.
