In the sprint, Augusto Fernandez scored his first championship point, while his three colleagues crashed – In the Grand Prix, Brad Binder finished seventh.
Augusto Fernandez had a good Saturday at the Australian Grand Prix. For the second time this season, the Spaniard scored championship points in the sprint. On Saturday, he finished ninth. His three KTM colleagues all retired.
Jack Miller was also plagued by wildlife on Phillip Island. In qualifying, he had an encounter with a rabbit. In the sprint, a seagull crashed into the cockpit. The dead animal got stuck in the motorcycle. Miller finally retired due to a crash.
Binder also went down on Saturday. Immediately after the Vinales/Bezzecchi crash in turn 1, the KTM rider crashed in turn 4. A top 6 finish would have been possible. Pedro Acosta also crashed in the sprint
He hit his left shoulder when he highsided at turn 6. There was a further examination on Sunday morning. In the end, Acosta was classified as “not fit” and had to miss the warm-up and the Grand Prix.
So only Fernandez had anything to smile about on Saturday. But the Tech3 rider also mentioned the problems with the RC16 at Phillip Island: “The biggest problem is the rear tire’s contact with the ground. I have to fight with that in every corner. The bike is not stable.”
“Pedro crashed without using the throttle. You have to use the rear brake to keep the bike on the line. When you get the bike upright, we have grip. I was in the group with Honda and Yamaha and we have more grip than they do. But I have no grip when leaning into a corner.”
In the Grand Prix, Binder was the KTM spearhead. Behind six Ducati riders, he was the first pursuer and kept Aprilia spearhead Maverick Vinales at bay. In seventh place, Binder was 15 seconds behind.
“I did my best,” said the South African. ”In the warm-up, we tried a different aerodynamic package in the dry. This improved my turning slightly, which was good and positive for the race.”
“Because I was able to carry a little more speed through the corners. I was able to keep up with the guys for a while, but when they picked up the pace, I couldn’t quite keep up. We learned a lot and made a little progress, but of course we need more.”
Miller crashes with Alex Marquez
Miller was cheered on by many fans and finished eleventh in the Grand Prix. “I got a great start and almost made it into the top six in Turn 1. But then Alex Marquez steered into me and we fell back to last place,” Miller said angrily.
Then he put in a good chase. “I fought my way back, but three laps from the end, the front tire was gone. Then you have to work a lot with the rear tire. I did what I could, but more was not possible.”
Fernandez was unable to repeat his performance from the sprint race on Sunday. The Spaniard finished 17th and thus did not score any championship points. He was in a group with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Takaaki Nakagami (LCR-Honda).
“I would have expected better after the sprint,” sighs Fernandez, and gives the reasons: ”The conditions were better and it was a very fast race. I didn’t have the same feeling. In some moments I felt good, but I couldn’t keep that rhythm.”
In the battle for fifth place in the world championship, Binder continues to hold the lead over Acosta. The gap is eleven points. KTM is in second place in the manufacturers’ championship, 18 points ahead of Aprilia.