Points for Bradley Smith at Red Bull Ring as KTM excel in Moto2 & Moto3 at Home Grand Prix

RACE 11th Rd. MotoGP 2018 – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg (AUT)

MotoGP




Round eleven of nineteen in 2018 MotoGP saw the series land at one of the most picturesque and fastest circuits on the calendar: the Red Bull Ring, Spielberg. Red Bull KTM’s second home Grand Prix since they joined the MotoGP grid (and just three years since the factory’s objectives for the premier class were announced at the same venue) meant a busy schedule and the luxury of large and vocal home support.
 
The team were down to one-rider representation after Pol Espargaro's unfortunate crash and collarbone injury the previous weekend in the Czech Republic. Bradley Smith showed moments of shrewd set-up work and keen competitiveness across the three days. The Brit almost squeezed into Q2 for the first time in 2018 on Saturday and then clocked the sixth fastest lap-time in warm-up this morning.
 
Smith made his customary bright start at the beginning of the 28-lap dash and then settled into a chase with the likes of Alvaro Bautista, 2017 victor Andrea Iannone and Aleix Espargaro. At the finish line #38 gathered two world championship points for 14th.
 
Red Bull KTM also confirmed that former Grand Prix winner and experienced test rider Randy De Puniet would step into the breach caused by Mika Kallio’s left knee injury to work on the KTM RC16 for the rest of the 2018 schedule.
 
Smith: “The nice thing is that we are learning more and more about the bike and made more improvements in the morning. The warm-up was a lot of fun and in cool track conditions the grip level was high and I could get the maximum out of the bike, and in Qualifying we have been able to extract better performance; which is something I have been focussing on. I knew the race would be a bit of a struggle because the bike has its strengths but when the track gets greasy then this is where we see some weaknesses. I qualified 13th and finished 14th and this is where we expected to be. We finished ahead of some good riders on good bikes and I don't think we can ask for much more. We pretty much defeated nearly all the satellite riders. I felt I made a perfect race and there was not much else I could have done. The team did a great job setting up the bike and 14th was our position today.” 
 
Mike Leitner (Team Manager): “We knew it would be difficult here after Brno. With just one rider you cannot do things like split strategies and look at tyres. We were limited but Bradley did a very solid job. Last year’s winner was just in front of him today. He felt strong after warm-up but missed a bit of rear grip in corner entry during the race and this stopped him setting the same rhythm as he did in the morning but, overall, it was a good weekend. We hope we can continue our journey in Silverstone with two riders again. I think it was a great Grand Prix for KTM with the Moto3 result and the fantastic race in Moto2. I think the team could see the big level of support in Austria and how many people are interested in our project. This gives us extra confidence and power to deliver more results in the future.”
 

Moto2

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira set off from his best qualification spot (2nd) of the season and immediately strived to set the pace on the KTM Moto2. He faced opposition from principal title rival Pecco Bagnaia as the Portuguese and Italian duelled for victory in the final ten laps. The dispute went down to the last two turns where the lead was swapped twice in a matter of metres and Oliveira just missed out on a third triumph of 2018 by two tenths of a second. Oliveira holds second in the championship table but trails Bagnaia by only 3 points. Brad Binder scored 6th place after briefly taking part in an entertaining four-way fight for the last rostrum plinth.

Oliveira: "I am satisfied with this second place at the Red Bull Ring, although its slightly bittersweet because I didn’t win the race. Overall, it was a great race for me; I didn’t make mistakes and led every lap, but just lost one place on the last lap. I had to try to guess where Bagnaia would try his move and close the door. The last lap was almost a carbon copy of what happened last year in MotoGP. The World Championship standings are very tight and the races are very exciting. We are on the limit. This year there have been no mistakes from the top riders either, and both Bagnaia and I have always kept adding points to our tally. I'm very happy because things are going well and I'm sure we'll get the win at another race."

 
Aki Ajo (Team Manager Moto2): "We have to be very happy with the second position for Miguel (Oliveira). In the last few races we have taken a step forward thanks to the great developmental work from KTM, WP and the entire team; We improved a lot in Free Practice and our pace was very good throughout the race. In the end, especially at this circuit, anything can happen in the last sector, so I don’t think today goes down as a loss. We have taken many points here and we continue with our plan to go race-by-race. For Brad (Binder) it was also a tough race, but sixth position is good after a tough fight. There were some incidents during the race and that made him drop a little further back. But considering that this morning Brad didn’t feel at his best during the warmup, it was a good race for him. We are increasingly improving our race pace and also our practice pace. We have to be happy."
 
Moto3

Starting from Pole Position with the KTM RC250 GP Marco Bezzecchi followed up his positive speed and form through the weekend at the Red Bull Ring to take his Redox PruestelGP KTM to victory; the second of 2018 (and seventh podium) for the young Italian who consolidated his advantage at the top of the world championship standings. 
 
Bezzecchi: “A very good race today for my second win of the season. The whole team did a great job this weekend; I'm glad to have such a great crew behind me. It was a long and exhausting race. We have worked a lot since Brno to improve my mental approach. Thanks to my team, to KTM and to the VR46 Academy. See you in Silverstone in two weeks, I'm looking forward to it.”

Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup

Xavier Artigas put together the perfect final 4.318km on his KTM RC250 RB to claim his first Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup victory. Again it had been a huge group swapping places at each corner and while the 15-year-old Spaniard featured at the front as he had on Saturday it was only the perfect last tour that clinched it ahead of Cup leader Can Öncü and Filip Salač.

“I am so happy, it was a great race, very hard, just like yesterday, passing all the way. I knew I just had to pick the right time to get ahead, it might not have worked, but it did,” added Artigas who stood on the podium for the fourth time this year and moved up to third in the points chase, one of four with a mathematical chance of wresting the Cup from Can Öncü in the remaining three races. 
 
After back-to-back races in Czech Republic and Austria, MotoGP will break for a week before heading over the English Channel for the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on August 26th. 
 

Next Race: August 26, 2018 – Silverstone (GBR)


Results MotoGP Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 2018 
1. Jorge Lorenzo (ITA), Ducati, 39:40.688 min
2. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda, +0.130 sec
3. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA), Ducati, +1.656
4. Cal Crutchlow (GBR), Honda, +9.434
5. Danilo Petrucci (ITA), Ducati, +13.169
KTM
14. Bradley Smith (GBR), KTM, +29.168
DNS Pol Espargaro (ESP), KTM
DNS Mika Kallio (FIN), KTM

Standings MotoGP 2018 after 11 of 19 rounds 
1. Marquez, 201 points
2. Valentino Rossi (ITA), Yamaha, 142
3. Lorenzo, 130
4. Dovizioso, 129
5. Maverick Vinales (ESP), Yamaha, 113
KTM
15. Espargaro, 32
19. Smith, 15
22. Kallio, 6

Results Moto2 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 2018 
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Kalex, 37:45.914 min
2. Miguel Oliveira (POR), KTM, +0.264 sec
3. Luca Marini (ITA), Kalex, +5.953 
4. Mattia Pasini (ITA), Kalex, +6.114
5. Jorge Navarro (ESP), Kalex, +8.554
KTM
6. Brad Binder (RSA), KTM, +8.944
10. Icer Lecuona (ESP), KTM, +16.718

Standings Moto2 2018 after 11 of 19 rounds 
1. Bagnaia (ITA), Kalex, 189 points
2. Oliveira, 186
3. Alex Marquez (ESP), Kalex, 113
4. Binder, 111
5. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA), Kalex, 106

Results Moto3 Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 2018 
1. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA), KTM, 37:13.198 min
2. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Honda, +0.473 sec
3. Jorge Martin (ESP), Honda, +0.544
4. Albert Arenas (ESP), KTM, +1.373
5. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (ITA), Honda, +1.421
KTM
6. Jaume Masia (ESP), KTM, +1.529
8. Gabriel Rodrigo (ESP), KTM, +8.658
19. Darryn Binder (RSA), KTM, +19.550

Standings Moto3 2018 after 11 of 19 rounds 
1. Bezzecchi (ITA), KTM, 158 points
2. Martin, 146
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (ITA), Honda, 121
4. Aron Canet (ESP), Honda, 118
5. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Honda, 117
KTM
6. Rodrigo, 84
7. Jakub Kornfeil (CZE), KTM, 80
8. Marcos Ramirez (ESP), KTM, 67
10. Andrea Migno (ITA), KTM, 60
22. Darryn Binder (RSA), KTM, 20


Results Race 2 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 2018
All riders on KTM RC250 RB bikes
1. Xavier Artigas (ESP), 28:39.989 min (17 laps)
2. Can Öncü (TUR), +0.272 sec 
3. Filip Salač (CZE), +0.417
4. Deniz Öncü (TUR), +0.630
5. Steward Garcia (COL), +0.646
 
Standings Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2018 after 9 of 12 races
1. C. Öncü, 196
2. D. Öncü, 134
3. Artigas, 124
4. Salač, 122
5. Ryusei Yamanaka (JAP), 104
 
>> LINK MOTOGP PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRRAY
>> LINK MOTO2 PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRARY
>> LINK MOTO3 PICTURES KTM MEDIA LIBRARY

PHILIPP GRÜNBERGER
PR MANAGER MOTOGP
philipp.gruenberger@ktm.com
0043 664 6217921

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