Brad Binder , Argentina MotoGP. 1 April 2023
Brad Binder put on a thrilling display to carve through the field from 15th on the grid to secure victory in the Argentina Grand Prix sprint race.
The KTM pilot made a blistering start to dive through to fifth in the opening few corners, which would then become fourth by the end of the opening tour.
Binder then managed to dispatch pole-man Alex Marquez and VR46’s Luca Marini soon after to begin his pursuit of Franco Morbidelli, the Yamaha man enjoying his most competitive outing for some time out in front.
Binder made short work of the Italian though and duly slipped through to the leadership of the encounter before a trio of laps had even been completed.
He managed to hold the lead across the remainder of the distance, though came under heavy pressure from a charging Bezzecchi over the final couple of circulations.
The VR46 racer lapped nearly half-a-second per lap faster at the end to arrive on the rear of Binder as the final lap began, Bezzecchi nearly making a move at Turn 5 before Binder was lucky to remain at the point after a small mistake at Turn 6 just moments later.
Binder ultimately did enough though to cling to the lead, screeching across the line to take the chequered flag for a hard-earned third MotoGP success.
Bezzecchi was thus forced to take second just 0.072s adrift of the South African, while his team-mate Marini completed the rostrum in third – his first premier class rostrum result.
Morbidelli found himself unable to hold off the charging Ducati’s and came home fourth in the end ahead of pole-man Alex Marquez, who managed to get the better of reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia at the very final corner for fifth.
Behind Bagnaia came Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales, while Jorge Martin managed to get back ahead of Fabio Quartararo for eighth on the last tour having lost a position to the Frenchman earlier in the race.
Just missing out on points was the sister KTM of Jack Miller, who struggled to make as much rapid progress as his team-mate en-route to tenth just ahead of LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami.
Johann Zarco endured a tough race as a result of a slow start, which limited him to 13th by the time he crossed the line for the 12th and final time, while Alex Rins also lost ground as he took 15th after starting 12th.
Aleix Espargaro and Joan Mir both failed to finish the contest after the former crashed out at Turn 9 while running seventh with only a few laps remaining, while the latter crashed his factory Honda at Turn 7 on the opening circulation.
Keyword: Binder scythes through to Argentina sprint race win from 15th on the grid