SuperBike Magazine September 2020

86 SuperBike
in just their second campaign wearing
KTM colors.
Brad Binder secured 8 points for 8th
position and remains 4th in a very close
world championship table. The South
African rookie was again very quick to
make ground with the front-runners.
Iker Lecuona charged to 10th. The Spaniard
ended a positive fortnight at the
Red Bull Ring: he notched his best ever
MotoGP classification the previous Sunday
with 9th and then his second top-ten
result at the Styrian event.
KTM are 3rd in the Constructors
standings, just 6 points away from the
top. Their excellent progress as the
youngest manufacturer at the highest
level means they now concede their concession
status and will join their rivals
in terms of testing, wildcard and engine
limitations. An achievement in itself.
Oliveira’s success ended Ducati’s clean
sweep at the Red Bull Ring since 2016.
Miguel Oliveira: “I’m very emotional…
there is so much I want to say but I cannot
at the moment. A big thank you to all
the people that believed in me starting
with my family, everyone in the team,
sponsors and the Portuguese crowd.
Thank you so much for your support.
This is history today for me and my
country and I couldn’t be happier to do it
here in the home of KTM and Red Bull.”
Pol Espargaro: “Anyone can win those
kinds of races! Pretty crazy. I was
fighting with Jack until the last corner
and Miguel was able to profit but that’s
racing. It was a beautiful race. Anyway,
we made the podium, we are up here
and I’m super-happy.”
Brad Binder: “It was a good race. The
first one was going really well and I was
slowly catching up ground. To get up to
6th was already great. I felt really, really
good. Unfortunately with the red flag
and the restart I didn’t make the best
decision with the tires and really struggled
to stop, even running off at Turn
1 but I was able to come back to 8th.
All-in-all we should be happy. I gave my
best out there and the bike was fantastic.
The team worked really well and I’m
super-excited for the next race. I think
we can do a good job at Misano.”
Iker Lecuona: “For sure, I’m really
happy. I finished in the top 10 again. In
the first race, I overtook many riders, I
had a very good pace and I was in ninth
position. The best for me was to pass
Miguel Oliveira in
shock at the post
race interview
Pit Beirer watching the
race whilst touching
the spare bike as a
good luck charm...
paid off!
Iker Lecuona
[Valentino] Rossi, because he was
always my idol. This moment was
very important for me. In the second
part of the race my start was not
great, I lost some positions, but I
came back, stayed in 10th position
and was having some great fights.
I’m really happy. Thank you to my
team. Thank you to KTM for the
opportunity and congrats to KTM for
Pol and obviously to my teammate
Miguel!”
Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM
Race Manager: “An unbelievable
race. We had all four bikes in the
top ten at our home race and with
two riders fighting for victory. Pol
was pushing all the way with Jack
on the last lap and we know that