BINDER FORCED INTO “MOTO2” POWER MAP AFTER FUEL WARNING IN AUSTRIAN GP

Brad Binder’s Austrian Grand Prix charge delivered his best result of the season, but it came with a major complication mid-race. After Pedro Acosta produced a memorable maiden win at the Red Bull Ring, Binder crossed the line sixth, 8.7 seconds behind the KTM rider who took victory.

Binder had shown he could run at the front early on. He set the third-fastest lap of the race and was quicker than Acosta through two separate sectors, with his best times listed as 23.416s in T1 and 25.973s in T2, while Acosta’s corresponding figures were 23.336s and 26.006s. In T3, Binder again edged it with 23.118s versus Acosta’s 23.089s, and both riders were nearly identical in T4, where Binder posted 17.005s and Acosta 17.006s.

The South African’s climb from 11th on the grid to sixth at the chequered flag was impressive, but he explained that his momentum was interrupted when a fuel warning forced him to change engine mapping. At the midway point of the 28-lap race, he was holding fifth when the warning appeared and he had to switch to what he described as a “Moto2” eco power map.

“I never had the speed to go with Ogura, and when I was riding alone I got the fuel warning, so I had to put the f**king ‘Moto2’ [power] map, and then Marc and Aldeguer passed me like I was standing still, so that wasn't ideal,” Binder said.

Binder’s description underlined how much the mapping change affected his pace. He added that once he had saved enough fuel, he was able to return to the normal power setting and begin rebuilding his race. “As soon as I had saved enough fuel, I could put the power back, and then I started to catch up again,” he said.

However, the recovery wasn’t simply a matter of turning the power back on. Binder explained that riding in fuel-saving mode meant he arrived at corners significantly slower, which forced him to adjust his braking reference points. “A little bit tricky, because you arrive so much slower [when saving fuel] at the next corner that you have to move all your brake markers, so it took a few laps to adjust,” he said.

Despite the setback, Binder felt the weekend was still a breakthrough. He began his post-race assessment by focusing on the result: “I'm happy to have got my best finish of the year in sixth place.” He also admitted he would have preferred a higher position, but pointed to a mistake in warm-up that affected his preparation. “Definitely would have liked to have been a bit further up the grid for sure. I gave my best, I went and [whacked] myself in warm up which definitely didn't help much. But other than that, it was pretty good.”

Binder also credited the work done by his team and summed up the weekend as a personal high point. “But definitely my most successful weekend this season. Happy with the pace I was able to put together, and happy with the work done this weekend.”

Acosta’s win capped a strong KTM day, and Binder offered praise to the Spaniard after the race. “Well done to my team, well done to Pedro on his first victory, he really really deserves it and I'm sure it's the first of many,” Binder said.

The Austrian Grand Prix also carried extra significance for both riders off the track. The race marked the final home KTM event for Acosta and Binder, with Acosta set to move to Ducati next season, while Binder is leaving MotoGP for WorldSBK with BMW.