Brad Binder explains ‘aggressive’ Quartararo contact
“...The thing was on the steering lock. Sorry to him."
Brad Binder has explained that an extra gear change led to an unexpected amount of engine brake and an ‘aggressive’ opening lap pass on Fabio Quartararo in the Thai MotoGP Sprint race.
Starting from the second row, the Monster Yamaha rider settled into an early seventh, while Binder rose from 13th to eighth.
But the pair then tangled at Turn 8, sending Quartararo down in eleventh.
“Today was quite good, apart from lap 1 with Brad Binder, who overtook us a bit too aggressively. I lost a lot of positions,” said Quartararo.
The Frenchman finished in tenth, just behind Binder’s KTM.
“On the first lap I made a mistake,” said Binder. “Normally we go 3rd gear, then back to 2nd for the right.
“But I went to 3rd, then clicked 4th gear and went back into 3rd when I went up the inside of Fabio.
“As you know, we set the engine brake for every gear. The engine brake we had for 3rd was massive, because it was set up for the straight.
“I turned in and the thing was [sideways] on the steering lock. Sorry to him.”
After the strong opening laps, the South African spent the rest of the 13-lap contest struggling with rear grip.
“When that rear grip goes away, you lose that stopping potential, the turning takes a while and that’s when you start to lose the front [as well].
“Then when you pick up the throttle [on the exit and] when you get to the centre [of the tyre] it starts spinning.”
Binder, who finished behind an all-Ducati top eight, now holds a 12-point advantage over future team-mate Pedro Acosta in their battle for fifth in the world championship.
Acosta crashed from fifth in the early stages.
