Binder: “It was an incredible weekend”

South African converts maiden Moto2™ pole position into his second win of the season in Aragon

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) couldn’t have asked for a much better Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon after he took his maiden Moto2™ pole position on Saturday, before securing his second win of the season on Sunday to strengthen his grasp on P3 in the Championship.

“Yeah it was an incredible weekend,” said the jubilant South African, who admitted he couldn’t quite believe he was quickest in qualifying. “To get the pole position, I really didn’t expect it. You know I was hoping for the top two rows in qualifying but to walk away with pole position was insane and I couldn’t believe it, but it felt so real lining up in first position and it gave me a lot of confidence for the race.”

The 2016 Moto3™ World Champion, despite encountering some issues in morning Warm Up, was able to produce a stellar ride to eventually take victory by 1.526 seconds over Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46): “My Sunday was a little bit of a roller coaster because in Warm Up this morning I really didn’t feel good, I had a lot of issues.

“I don’t know if it was a combination of my team doing small changes and a little bit just calming down maybe, and in the race I felt back to normal or maybe even better, so to walk away with another win I’m over the moon. I cannot thank my team enough, I’m so grateful to get another victory in Moto2™ and I hope it’s the second one of many.”

Next up for Binder and the rest of the paddock is a trip to uncharted territory: Thailand. Can the 23-year-old kick on and continue his great form that has seen him draw level on 2018 wins with teammate and Championship title chaser Miguel Oliveira? “I got a good handful of points towards my Championship and if I can maybe stay in this form I’m in for a good end to the season.

“I’ve had a look when WorldSBK were there (Thailand), I haven’t really looked too much into it yet. Now in the weeks leading up to it, I’ll try and get as much info as I can. I need to continue to work hard in every session, every lap, and it makes life in the race much, much easier.” 

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