Darryn Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) received a deserved reward at Motul Grand Prix of Japan for the good work he has done in recent GPs, claiming his first ever World Championship podium. The South African fought for the victory right to the line, coming home third – just 0.042 of a second behind race winner Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP).
Starting from his career-best grid position of fifth, Binder made a good start and held his place. The South African remained in the leading group, which initially consisted of 13 riders, for the entirety of the 20-lap classic Moto3™ contest. Despite dropping to tenth place at one point, he regained positions and was among the top three at the midway point of the race. From there, constant overtaking led to him leading the race on the last lap, although on the final straight he lost out by the narrowest of margins – 0.001 separating Binder from P2 at the flag. Nevertheless, third place was a terrific result for the young talent.
With the 16 points earned today, Binder climbs to 19th position in the overall standings, on a total of 44 points. In addition, this is the fourth consecutive year that the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3™ team have placed on the podium in Japan.
Aki Ajo - Team Manager: “It was an awesome day here at Motegi. We are having a difficult year in Moto3 and it is also being demanding for Darryn since it is difficult for him to find this confidence and a consistent speed during the season. This weekend, despite some small technical issues that deprived us of putting in more laps, Darryn has remained very focused and put up a great fight in the race. I am impressed with how intelligent he has been and how well he managed every lap.”