How an unrelated FP2 incident ruined Brad Binder’s Misano MotoGP sprint

KTM’s Brad Binder says “it’s probably a good thing” his bike suffered a technical issue during the San Marino MotoGP sprint due to the problems he has had all weekend.

After suffering a difficult qualifying at Misano on Saturday morning, the KTM rider was forced to work his way from 15th on the grid.

Brad Binder had made little progress from here after nine laps of running when he stopped at the side of the circuit.

He says he had been battling an issue all weekend with his RC16’s engine braking not working correctly on one of his bikes, with the problem worsening during the sprint before he retired.

But the fact he will be able to use a new engine for Sunday’s San Marino Grand Prix is something he views as a positive.

“Well, not too much to say,” he told the media.

“Unfortunately in the race we had a technical issue and the bike stopped.

“But all weekend I’ve had it that one bike had a lot of engine brake and one was more or less normal.

“And with all the issues this weekend, I’ve had to jump between the two the whole time.

“So, it’s been a bit of a difficult one to switch between. And then in the race, the engine brake was building lap by lap by lap, getting more and more and more, and then it just stopped.

“On the one side, it’s probably a good thing because we can put a new engine in now and the thing can go back to normal.

“But a really, really challenging weekend so far. But that’s life and let’s see tomorrow.

“To be honest, I wasn’t very strong at all. But then again, I was opening the gas and wasn’t feeling much power.

“And when I was braking I was locking the rear like hell. So, difficult to say. One lap before it stopped I dropped my engine brake all the way because I was going into every corner sideways, and I thought I’d went completely the wrong direction because I got a lot more.

“And then it stopped. So, it was a challenging race.”

In FP2 prior to qualifying, Binder’s RC16 suffered a chain issue, which he says contributed to his sprint woes as it damaged the only bike “that was working ok”.

“I did a bit of mechanic work on my chain at the side of the track, got it back on and got the bike back,” he said.

“But unfortunately, when the chain jumps off it breaks the swingarm. So, that bike, the one that was working ok, was put to the side.”