Strong Start to Finish Win for Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jack Miller
OutdoorHub 07.14.14
Red Bull KTM AJO factory rider Jack Miller was in determined form on the Sachsenring circuit on Sunday to take the victory in the Moto3 GP of Germany with a pole to finish win. South African Brad Binder challenged the Australian rider hard throughout the second half of the race and went on to finish second.
Miller, a Red Bull-sponsored athlete had secured his fifth pole position but was under pressure to do well after race incidents had kept him off the podium in the last round at Assen. He got away cleanly from the start, was first into the first corner and settled down to hold the lead throughout the 27-lap race on what is the shortest circuit on the World Championship calendar.
Miller’s win extends his lead in the World Championship, which he has held since the first race of the season in Qatar. It will be a relief to the Australian to add more points to his tally as other strong riders have been making inroads into his lead in the past two rounds. Spanish rider Alex Marquez, who was looking for his third consecutive Moto3 win shadowed Miller throughout the opening laps until Binder slipped into contention leaving Marquez to fight it out with three other riders, all vying for the third podium place.
Miller said it had been a tough race and that Binder had put pressure on him: “Brad (Binder) was very strong. From the first lap I could see he was going all out, braking like an animal and getting very close to me. It was very stressful and I had to push hard on the last two laps to try to pass me. It was very important to get these 25 points. Now we have to ride intelligently at the next few tracks.”
It was French rider Alex Masbou who finally claimed the third podium spot, finishing 0.9 seconds behind Binder who was just 0.180 seconds off Miller as the riders charged to the finish line.
The race was a battle of attrition that saw a number of Miller’s closest rivals fail to finish. Italian KTM rider Romano Fenati has been a race winner and a strong title contender during the nine rounds so far held this season. He started way back on twenty fifth-place on the grid and was steaming through the pack when he crashed out of eleventh place in lap five. Fenati’s DNF drops him from equal second to fourth place in the standings.
A total of eleven riders failed to finish the race on the tricky high-speed German circuit, including Marquez’s teammate Alex Rins, another of the title contenders. Miller’s factory teammate Karel Hanika, also a Red Bull-sponsored athlete had a second row start and rode a strong race with the following group until he crashed out with six laps to go. Both Miller and Hanika are riding the KTM RC 250GP machine.
Miller now goes into the mid season summer break with a 19-point lead in the championship. The competition now breaks until August 10 when the next round takes place at Indianapolis, USA.
Moto GP of Germany – Sachsenring Circuit – Round 9
Moto3 Results
1, Jack Miller, AUS, KTM, 39:26.927
2, Brad Binder, RSA, Mahindra, 39:27.107
3, Alexis Masbou, FRA, Honda, 39:28.046
4, Alex Marquez, ESP, Honda, 39:28.107
5, Danny Kent, GBR, Husqvarna, 39:28.217
6, Efren Vasquez, ESP, Honda, 39:53.158
7, John McPhee, GBR, Honda, 39:53.263
8, Isaac Viñales, ESP, KTM, 39:53.401
9, Matteo Ferrari, ITA, Mahindra, 39:53.510
10, Juanfran Guevara, ESP, Kalex KTM, 39:53.662
Other KTM
11, Jakub Kornfeil, CZE, KTM, 39:53.800
14, Eric Granado, BRA, KTM, 39:57.011
15, Enea Bastianini, ITA, KTM, 40:12.052
18, Hafiq Azmi, MAL, KTM, 40:13.037
DNF, Niccolo Antonelli, ITA, KTM, 35:25.864
DNF, Karel Hanika, CZE, KTM, 28:01.713
DNF, Livio Loi, BEL, KTM, 20:00.792
DNF, Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM, 4:26.703
DNS, Francesco Bagnaia, ITA, KTM
Moto3 Standings after Round 9
1, Miller, 142
2, Marquez, 123
3, Vazquez, 112
4, Fenati, 110
5, Alex Rins, ESP, Honda, 107
6, Viñales, 90
7, Masbou, 79
8, Miguel Oliveira, POR, Mahindra, 53
9, Binder, 49
10, Kornfeil, 48
Other KTM
11, Bastianini, 46
14, Bagnaia, 42
17, Antonelli, 18
18, Loi, 17
19, Hanika, 16
26, Granado, 2
Moto3 Manufacturers Standings after Round 9
1, KTM, 206
2, Honda, 178
3, Mahindra, 82
