JAKARTA - Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team driver Brad Binder won his first victory of the season after winning the Austrian Grand Prix thanks to a late "twist" at the Red Bull Ring Circuit, Spielberg, Sunday, August 16.
Binder took a gamble and took a risk by sticking with slick tires in the rain for the last three laps as the leading riders entered the pits to change to wet tires.
With no grip and braking on a wet track, Binder carefully swerved into the final corner to become the first to touch the finish line to claim his second premier class win after that last-minute change of track conditions.
Francesco Bagnaia, who had a chance to win today, tried to catch up after changing wet tires and found himself finishing 12.991 seconds later than the South African.
Binder was awarded a three-second penalty for violating the track limit but it did not affect the race result due to the wide margin between the two leading riders that day.
Last week's Styria GP winner and pole sitter Jorge Martin returned to the podium at Spielberg in third place after also changing bikes, according to the official MotoGP website.
"It's very scary," said Binder about the last laps reported by Antara.
"When it rained I saw the other riders get into the pits and I gambled to stay out.... To win at Red Bull after that gamble was crazy."
Overcast skies overcast Spielberg before the start which worried Yamaha team boss Massimo Meregalli.
He said Quartararo, who started from P2, would have to stick to the front row if he was to have any chance of winning in Austria on a good weather note as the YZR-M1 has so far been less competitive on the wet.
Francesco Bagnaia stole the race lead from Jorge Martin, who broke the Red Bull Ring circuit record on the opening lap and had just one lap in the marshal's white flag signaling riders to change bikes to wet tires whenever they pleased.
Starting the race from P5, Marc Marquez pushed into the podium zone when Martin was not too fast in colder track conditions and slipped to P4.
The Repsol Honda rider moved up to second after winning his battle with Quartararo at Turn 3 with nine laps remaining and threatening Bagnaia who took the lead.
Jack Miller was one of the first to enter the pits, changing to a second bike on wet tires with five laps remaining.
Marquez had a gap to overtake Bagnaia and lead the last four laps when heavy rain began to fall on the track forcing the front riders to switch to second bikes for the final three laps.
However, Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro decided not to change bikes and gambled on dry tires as did Valentino Rossi, who was in the podium zone.
Marquez ended up crashing with two laps remaining as Joan Mir finished P4 ahead of Luca Marini and Iker Lecuona.
The drivers' standings map experienced a shock after Johann Zarco crashed at Turn 9 with ten laps remaining so Quartararo maintained his lead in the standings with an additional nine points after finishing P7 with a collection of 181 points.
Bagnaia moved up to second place with 134 points, the same achievement as Joan Mir in third place, while Zarco was thrown to fourth place with a difference of two points.
Another surprise that day Valentino Rossi celebrated his farewell to Austria in his final season as a MotoGP rider by finishing P8 on slick tires for the Petronas Yamaha team.
Miguel Oliveira, who won at Spielberg last year, also failed to finish the race after crashing with six laps to go. The KTM rider raced with a wrist that has yet to fully recover from the injury following a crash at the Styria GP last week.
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