Binder ‘lucky to finish’ Austrian MotoGP after front tyre started ‘jumping’
Starting from 12th, Binder made an unusually poor start by his standards before beginning to pick off the riders ahead of him.
After getting through on Maverick Vinales and Alex Rins with a few laps to go, the KTM rider hunted down Espargaro who was also struggling aboard his Aprilia.
And despite an attempted overtake on Espargaro at turn six - Binder ran slightly wide which allowed the Spaniard to cut back underneath him - Binder was in the midst of suffering from severe front tyre ‘jumping’.
"I didn’t get a great start from 12th on the inside. I kept my head down and charged as hard as I could from the beginning until the end," said Binder.
"I was really happy that everything was working and the bike was great but we were just missing a bit of competitiveness today.
"Unfortunately with five laps to go I had an issue with my front tyre and it started jumping and it got worse and worse.
"I was really lucky to finish the race. It was unfortunate because I was still coming [on] strong at the end and with this problem it didn’t give me the opportunity to try and fight with the guys.
"I tried my best anyway. It just wasn’t our day. Myself and the team are working hard, we’re not where we want to be but we’re slowly trying to work our way up the order."
Rear tyre issues cost Miguel Oliveira at KTM’s home MotoGP
While it was front tyre woes for Binder, KTM’s home race was impacted by another one of their riders suffering with the tyres.
Oliveira also managed to score points but felt he was slowed by rear tyre issues.
"A difficult race and I gave my best to try and recover some positions but I had some issues with the rear tyre which made it tough to change the style, get close to some of the other guys and then overtake," added the Portuguese rider.
"We did all we could but the weekend was super-nice and it is always cool to come here to the Red Bull Ring and ride in front of the KTM fans.
"We got some points but we’re not that satisfied with the result and we’ll go to Misano chasing some more."
