Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli echoed to the sound of MotoGP for the second time in two weeks as the series put round fourteen of 2024 in the record books for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Jack Miller classified 16th and Brad Binder tumbled out of top four contention to place 19th. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Celestino Vietti won a brilliant Moto2™ race.
There was no sign of the rain that briefly created mixed conditions at the San Marino Grand Prix two weeks ago. Misano shone in late summer sun for its second stage of 2024 MotoGP and for the Emilia Romagna fixture that represented the penultimate European date on the current calendar.
The riders and teams were already well versed with the 4.2km trajectory and 16 turns of the mostly flat Italian layout and Red Bull KTM came through the Sprint on Saturday with Brad Binder earning a top six result. The South African made another strong start from 4th on the grid but before the pace could settle Brad lost traction in Turn 4 and slipped away. He managed to remount and complete the race in 19th.
Miller meanwhile had been trying to grab places and recover ground from P19 and was brilliant to reach 10th in the opening stages. The Australian then found the limit of his potential and found his way across the line in 16th.
Brad is 5th in the standings. Miller is 15th. The Mandalika Street Circuit and Motegi mean long trips for MotoGP in successive weeks now for Grands Prix in Indonesia and then Japan. After a one-week pause another triple will ensue with trips to Australia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Jack Miller, 16th: “I got away to a decent start but by the third lap I reached my maximum pace and that was all I had. Then we had a vibration issue. I tried to have a push a couple of times but I almost fell off more than once. We have some work to do. It was a hard day and a bit disappointing. We tried some things to fix it this weekend but we need to go back and have another look to find the maximum of the tire and try to improve.”
Brad Binder, 19th: “I felt pretty good in warm-up and we made a little step from yesterday. I knew if I wanted to do anything here then I had to go with the boys early on. That’s what I tried to do and hang with their speed but unfortunately I washed the front at Turn 4. Sorry to my team for the mistake because we could have had a decent result. My goal is to fight in the top three and that’s what I wanted to do. We’ll try again next week.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Brad was there at the beginning and things were under control until the crash. It means we were close to the limit so we have some work ahead. Jack also made a strong start but also had some contact with other riders and lost time running off-line. His feeling wasn’t too bad but we still need to look well at his race and set-up. We’ll hope for better in the overseas.”
Results MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Ducati 41:14.653
2. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati +5.002
3. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati +7.848
16. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +40.454
18. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS +47.755
19. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +1:25.918
DNF. Pedro Acosta (ESP) GASGAS
World Championship standings MotoGP
1. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati, 341 points
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati, 317
3. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Ducati, 282
5. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing, 165
6. Pedro Acosta (ESP) GASGAS, 157
15. Jack Miller (AUS) KTM Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 58
20. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS, 20
KTM GP Academy
Red Bull KTM Ajo had two different perspectives for the 20-lap Moto3 Grand Prix. Jose Antonio Rueda started from 9th on the grid and had qualified only 0.3 from Pole Position on Saturday. The Spaniard was one of the faster riders in the class with his KTM RC4 and after threading through the opening corners in a safe and strong position chased the leaders. Jose Antonio missed the final few tenths per lap to be able to think about the podium so he concentrated on winning his personal contest in the third group. He was able to record 10th by the end of the race. While the Ajo crew charted Rueda’s progress, they looked for education and improvement from Xabi Zurutuza who got away from 23rd. The rookie completed the distance in 19th.
Moto2 drew the talents of Celestino Vietti and Deniz Öncü into play. Vietti had a decent grid position of 4th and with a lap a miniscule 0.03 from Pole while Öncü could not make it through Q2 and ranked 27th, suffering with illness. The Turk’s race was over after four laps with a crash after he’d made ground into the top twenty. Vietti meanwhile set a strong sequence of lap-times to run in 2nd and just half a second from the leader. The Italian was part of a gripping three-way fight for the win in a final three laps full of misjudgments, limit-pushing and near-misses. Cele looked to have missed out on P1 but made time all the way through the final circulation and then achieved fantastic drive out of Turn 16 to win by 0.029 of a second. It was his third podium appearance of the season.
Celestino Vietti: “From the start until the middle I felt really good and I closed the gap to Tony but I made a mistake and lost a of time. I got nervous and made another mistake but my speed was enough to get back to the two in front. I got a bit lucky on the last lap but then tried my maximum into the last corner. I’m really, really happy.”
Results Moto3 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO 33:53.212
2. Angel Piqueras (ESP) Honda +0.175
3. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna +0.367
4. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS +0.295
10. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +6.012
11. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna +6.043
19. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo +30.796
20. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO +30.811
21. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS +31.213
World Championship standings Moto3
1. David Alonso (COL) CFMOTO, 271 points
2. Daniel Holgado (ESP) GASGAS, 189
3. Collin Veijer (NED) Husqvarna, 189
7. Jose Antonio Rueda (ESP), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 105
13. Tatsuki Suzuki (JPN) Husqvarna, 63
15. Jacob Roulstone (AUS) GASGAS, 50
16. Joel Esteban (ESP) CFMOTO, 42
22. Xabi Zurutuza (ESP) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 11
Results Moto2 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1. Celestino Vietti (ITA) Red Bull KTM Ajo 35:14.420
2. Aron Canet (ESP) +0.029
3. Tony Arbolino (ITA) +1.921
7. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna +12.509
13. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO +19.490
16. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna +23.441
DNF. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO
DNF. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo
World Championship standings Moto2
1. Ai Ogura (JPN), 188 points
2. Sergio Garcia (ESP), 166
3. Joe Roberts (USA), 143
7. Jake Dixon (GBR) CFMOTO, 130
8. Celestino Vietti (ITA) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 127
15. Senna Agius (AUS) Husqvarna, 47
17. Darryn Binder (RSA) Husqvarna, 38
19. Izan Guevara (ESP) CFMOTO, 28
20. Deniz Öncü (TUR) Red Bull KTM Ajo, 27