Brad Binder accepts responsibility for clashes with angry Marini and Oliveira
The KTM rider first clattered into Luca Marini, which was the catalyst to end a promising race for the VR46 rider, and then forced Miguel Oliveira wide.
He received a long lap penalty for each incident but still finished sixth, before visiting an angry Marini who accepted his apology.
Binder said: “This has been a difficult weekend for us. Fast on new tyres but we only found decent pace in the race today, yesterday I struggled in the beginning.
“I didn’t get a bad start, it was okay, I was figuring out the medium tyre which I hadn’t used since Friday.
“Unfortunately I had a little shake at Turn 8, when I went to grab my front brake I pulled it into my fingers.
“I started to panic because I had two guys on the outside.
“I stamped on my rear brake and tried to get around all the riders.
“I’m really sorry that I ended up hitting Luca and destroying his race. I’m sorry to his team for destroying what could have been a really good day for them.
“After that, I was pushing too hard, trying to come through the field.
“When I had the moment with Miguel, I was a little bit hot. I had to dive inside at the last moment, and I clipped him too.
“I really deserved both long lap penalties today. Sorry to both riders and both teams.”
'You have a responsibility to not hit anybody'
Marini was left frustrated and claiming he could’ve finished on the podium without Binder’s intervention.
“It doesn’t matter what happens, you have a responsibility to not hit anybody on track, to not put anybody else in danger,” Binder said.
“I had it earlier in the day when my brakes opened but hadn’t had it in the race.
“I thought the guys had fixed my problem but the reality is, if you get head-shake, they open.
“I was very lucky that I still had a bit of pressure. Had I had nothing, who I would’ve hit? What would’ve happened? It would have been at a much higher speed.
“Unfortunately things like this can happen. I’m really sorry to them.
“It’s never anyone’s intention to create an outcome like this for anyone else’s race.”
He detailed the incident with Oliveira: “I had a little bit of an advantage to them on the brakes.
“By that time they’d started to overcook their soft front tyre.
“So the marker I was using in Turn 2 was quite a bit later than theirs.
“I didn’t expect it, didn’t anticipate it.
“When we grabbed the brake I started pulling towards the back of him, then decided I had to go inside to avoid him.
“Unfortunately I clipped the side of him.”
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
