Spielberg: The rain king of 2021 prefers to stay dry on Sunday

Dark clouds gathered during the second MotoGP practice session for the Austrian Grand Prix, but there was no heavy rain on the Red Bull Ring during the practice sessions. But it probably wouldn’t have bothered you anyway: KTM driver Brad Binder delivered his previous masterpiece in a memorable race at the same place two years ago.

When it got wet, the South African was the only one who stayed on slicks while all the other drivers turned into the pit lane to change tires. The unconditional courage to take risks paid off. “I still get goosebumps to this day when I get videos of it sent to me. It was a scary race, I felt like I was just slipping around. It was like dancing on raw balls and I didn’t feel very comfortable doing it “, says Binder, who finally won by more than ten seconds.

The RC16 is improved in many respects compared to the past. “We’re a second quicker here compared to 2022,” said Binder with satisfaction after training, which he finished fourth (+0.330 seconds). Meanwhile, teammate Jack Miller (+0.867) only finished 14th.

MotoGP has slightly adapted its warm-up mode for this season. Two 15-minute qualifying sessions will take place on Saturday morning, in which the starting grid for the new sprint race over half the race distance in the afternoon (3 p.m.) and the Grand Prix on Sunday over 28 laps (2 p.m., both live on ServusTV) will be determined .

The ten fastest drivers in Friday practice qualify directly for the second qualifying “Q2” (11.15) and then fight for pole position there. In the first qualifying “Q1” (10:50), the remaining twelve pilots who did not make it into the top ten in practice are driving for two more places in “Q2”. In addition to Miller, Marc Marquez (13th / +0.823) was one of them. The former world champion, dissatisfied with his Honda, also felt held up by GasGas driver Pol Espargaro, who stood in his way in the decisive final phase.

Binder, on the other hand, sees himself and his racing team on the right track. “We really don’t need much to go up the front. The whole team is doing a fantastic job.” Incidentally, the 28-year-old from Potchefstroom, who now lives in Andorra, does not need rain like 2021. “The more sunshine the better.”

The program in Spielberg

• Saturday
  8.40 a.m. to 10.40 a.m.: free practice
  10.50 a.m.: Qualifying MotoGP
  12.15 p.m.: 1st race MotoE
  12.50 p.m.: Qualifying Moto3
  1:45 p.m.: Qualifying Moto2
  3 p.m.: Sprint race MotoGP (14 laps)
  4.10 p.m .: 2nd race MotoE
  5 p.m.: 1st race Rookies Cup
• Sunday
  8.50 a.m.: 2nd race Rookies Cup
  11am: Race Moto3 (20 laps)
  12:15 p.m.: Race Moto2 (23 laps)
  2 p.m.: MotoGP race (28 laps).

The MotoGP winners since 2016

• 2016: Andrea Iannone (Ita/Ducati)
• 2017: Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Ducati)
• 2018: Jorge Lorenzo (Esp/Ducati)
• 2019: Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Ducati)
• 2020, 1st race: Andrea Dovizioso (Ita/Ducati); 2nd race: Miguel Oliveira (Por/KTM)
• 2021, 1st race: Jorge Martin (Esp/Ducati); 2nd race: Brad Binder (Rsa/KTM)
• 2022: Francesco Bagnaia (Ita/Ducati).