Oliveira shines at Austrian Grand Prix as Binder marks birthday with Moto2 win MotoGP 2019 Round 11 of 19, Red Bull Ring (AUT) - RACE The eleventh round of MotoGP took place in the fast, scenic and splendid surrounds of the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg but the Grand Prix provided a twist with the weather. Two hot and sunny days of practice and qualification were replaced by much cooler conditions (by ten degrees) and light rain before the Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP sprints on Sunday. By the time of the premier class outing at 14.00 the Austrian asphalt was dry and the race commenced without delay. Pol Espargaro set off from 11th place on the grid but the Spaniard’s race lasted less than two laps before he was forced to stop with a technical problem at Turn 3. The onus then fell onto Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira, who had been quick through the weekend and set the 6th fastest lap-time in the damp warm-up. The Portuguese worked his way into a solid top ten slot ahead of factory Ducati rider Danilo Petrucci and then tried to close the deficit to former Moto2 rival Francesco Bagnaia. He ended up in 8th (his first top ten) and just two tenths of a second behind the Italian by the flag. Johann Zarco completed a largely solitary race but still clocked his second-highest classification of 2019 with 12th. Hafizh Syahrin was an early faller. Pol Espargaro: “I felt a problem with the engine and these bikes are so complex now that when the sensors find an issue they stop completely. Luckily when it happened I was just overtaking [Takaaki] Nakagami on the inside so I could just pick up. It’s a shame. We were in the top ten all weekend and with the race pace in FP4 we showed good potential. We chose the same tyre and strategy as Miguel and it was the correct one. Miguel was fast all weekend so congratulations to him and it’s great there was a KTM in the top ten. I just want to think about Silverstone, that’s all I have on my mind right now.” Johann Zarco: “From the start I was good; from the first three-four corners on that track and in the group is always very tricky. It was nice to feel that adrenaline and control it. I could see the group of four riders ahead and was really hoping to catch them. I expected to have a second breath and a good pace until the end of the race. The pace remained very constant but I was not fast enough. I’m not disappointed but I am cannot say I am super-happy because I was twelfth. I felt it was the best I could do.” Miguel Oliveira: “It was a great race today! My pace was very good as we saw yesterday already. I’m quite happy about this result, the first top 10 for me and for the team with the KTM bike. I’m really glad and I think we deserve this after we’ve been working really hard, understanding the bike and everyone has been very good at helping me. So I think this is a decent payback to KTM here at their home GP. Now we go with a good feeling to Silverstone.” Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Team Manager: “It was an intense weekend and a busy time for the team but we managed it and the riders in a good way. The sessions went well for us and Pol went directly to the Q2 and this was positive but he had an electrical problem early in the race which was very painful because I’m sure he could have achieved a good result today. Luckily we could count on Miguel with a very good performance on our bike. He did great, and took his first single-digit result in MotoGP. We gave him some small updates after the GP in Brno and for the test and he translated it here into a good result. Johann made it into the points. Again we had some decent sessions but he could not enter into the same group as Miguel. 12th is not a wonderful result but it was a nice weekend overall and good to show many people from KTM what we are doing here. We want to go to Silverstone now and make a good result.” Moto2 & Moto3 Brad Binder, who turned 24 on race day, rode to his first Moto2 victory of the season with a strong and defiant performance at the Red Bull Ring. The South African repelled a number of challenges from other riders after making a great start from the front row of the grid and held on for the RC12’s maiden win in 2019 (also his third podium appearance). Teammate Jorge Martin captured his best result of a debut Moto2 year by finishing 7th. Brad Binder: “This is definitely better than buying myself something for my birthday! It was a great race and a great day in front of all the KTM fans and Red Bull here at their home grand prix. It has been a difficult year but for the last few races we have been moving in the right direction and I hope we can finish the season strongly.” The Moto3 Grand Prix was won by Romano Fenati after an unusually compact three rider fight. The top KTM RC4 runner was SKY Racing Team VR46’s Celestino Vietti in 4th position. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Can Öncü crashed out while his twin Deniz made it to 17th in only his second Grand Prix. Aron Canet classified 10th but remains in title contention; slipping to 2nd in the standings behind Lorenzo Dalla Porta. After back-to-back events MotoGP will break for a week before heading to the UK for the GoPro British Grand Prix at Silverstone on the last weekend of the month. Next race: August 25th, Silverstone, GoPro British Grand Prix (GBR) Download the 2019 myWorld Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich Photo gallery HERE Results Race MotoGP Red Bull Ring 2019 1. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA), Ducati 39:34.771 2. Marc Marquez (ESP), Honda +0.213 3. Fabio Quartararo (FRA), Yamaha +6.117 4. Valentino Rossi (ITA), Yamaha +7.719 5. Maverick Viñales (ESP), Yamaha +8.695 8. Miguel Oliveira (POR), Red Bull KTM Tech3 +16.206 12. Johann Zarco (FRA), Red Bull KTM +25.503 DNF. Pol Espargaro (ESP), Red Bull KTM DNF. Hafizh Syahrin (MYS), Red Bull KTM Tech3 Results Race Moto2 Red Bull Ring 2019 1. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Ajo 37:24. 963 2. Alex Marquez (ESP) Kalex +0.330 3. Javier Navarro (ESP) Speed Up +1.839 7. Jorge Martin (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +5.200 Results Race Moto3 Red Bull Ring 2019 1. Romano Fenati (ITA), Honda 37:50.135 2. Tony Arbolino (ITA), Honda +1.097 3. John McPhee (GBR), Honda +1.105 17. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo +28.156 DNF. Can Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo Contact: Press & PR Manager Sebastian Kuhn +43 676 599 0084 sebastian.kuhn@ktm.com