Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1402132
ROUND 10 / AUGUST 13-15, 2021 RED BULL RING / SPIELBERG, AUSTRIA P70 MOTOGP I FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Quartararo and Mir all pulled into the pits to change to wet tires. The remaining three laps were drama filled as new leader Bind- er tiptoed his way around the Spielberg countryside, KTM's and Red Bull's top brass all with their hearts in their mouths as the laps ticked down. Binder had to battle not just the rain but the cooling off of his slick tires and then his carbon brakes, ensuring he had almost no stopping power as he coast- After a typically frantic but mainly dry 25 laps at the Red Bull Ring with a leading six of Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha), Francesco Bagnaia (Lenovo Ducati), Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati), Joan Mir (Ecstar Suzuki) and Binder, it all changed with six laps remaining. The rain that threatened all race finally arrived, Binder opting to gamble and stay out on slicks as Marquez, Bagnaia, Martin, MYOWNRACE 33 BRAD BINDER 1ST MOTOGP "That was really scary!" Brad Binder said. "When I saw the rain coming, I was trying to work out how many seconds I could lose per lap and when the others went in, I decided to take the gamble. I could push hard on the first lap but then the rear re started to slide as the temperature cooled. Then I lost the carbon brakes! Wow, I think there was someone up there holding me up today because there were a couple of moments when I thought it was over. Here in front of the fans and the home race for KTM and Red Bull I felt like I had to take the gamble. To win today is insane." 63 FRANCESCO BAGNAIA 2ND MOTOGP "Again, today we went close to winning, but I'm s ll happy," Francesco Bagnaia said. "We did our best and worked really well. Both when I was leading in the dry and the wet, we managed the situa on well. I let Marquez through when I saw the first drops of rain, to see what he would do because I didn't know if I should go back and change the bike. I saw that many riders didn't stop, and I thought I had made a mistake by doing the flag-to-flag. A er the first lap on the rain res, I found my rhythm and was able to pass a lot of riders to take second place. We will try Fabio Quartararo (20) was daring in the opening laps as he tried to stay ahead of the Ducati contingent.