27/10/2024

Binder & Agius: Double retirement in promising Thailand GP

From 16th and 20th on the grid, both Darryn Binder and Senna Agius sped to the front, showing great potential, but unfortunately, neither of LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto2 riders managed to reach the finish line of the Chang International Circuit.

Race Sunday had a surprise in store for the Motorcycle World Championship as light rain passed just before the start, leaving wet patches in large parts of the 4.55km Chang International Circuit in Buriram, but dry enough for the race to go ahead as planned.

Nevertheless, Darryn Binder got off to a good start from 16th on the grid and made up nine positions on the first lap alone after four riders ahead of him got caught up in the heat on the first lap. The South African's pace even catapulted him up to fourth place, where he battled within the leading group before coming into contact with today's crowned world champion Ai Ogura forcing him to go wide. Binder lost a few positions and continued to fight in tenth place, hoping to catch up with the leading group again. However, the 26-year-old's Kalex was slightly damaged from the previous incident, which was one reason why the Intact GP rider crashed on the eighth lap, bringing his promising race to a premature end.

Just one lap later, team-mate Senna Agius suffered a similar fate. Despite a very good start, the Moto2 rookie struggled from then on with acceleration problems and a lack of grip. With four positions gained on the first lap, there seemed to be a good chance for the Australian, but unfortunately, contact with another rider led to a crash in turn 3 of lap nine and thus to an abrupt end to his race.

Happy to have escaped without injury but disappointed nonetheless, the German Moto2 team is now travelling on to Malaysia, where the penultimate opportunity of the year awaits in a week's time. Both Darryn Binder and Senna Agius will analyse the data from the weekend with their crews in order to be prepared for the Malaysian Grand Prix, which is expected to bring similarly hot and humid conditions.

Results

Race
1. Aron CANET/ SPA/ KALEX
2. Ai OGURA/ JPN/ BOSCOSCURO – (+3.684)
3. Marcos RAMIREZ/ SPA/ KALEX – (+4.683=
DNF
Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX
Darryn BINDER/ RSA/ KALEX

World Championship
1. OGURA Ai/ JPN – 261
2. CANET Aron/ SPA – 201
3. GARCIA Sergio/ SPA – 179
15. AGIUS Senna/ AUS – 63
18. BINDER Darryn/ RSA – 54

Senna Agius

DNF
Moto2 World Championship 2024 - P15 - 63 Points

“A day to forget for us. I had a good start and a decent first lap, where I showed upit in the top ten. But then I had no feeling for the bike and no grip right from the beginning. Unfortunately, I went down in turn three when I tried to catch up. So, there's not much to say. We need to figure out a few things why we felt like this from the beginning of the weekend or had no feeling. I want to apologize to the team because I could have done a bit better for sure. Anyway, we have to analyze everything, reset and try again in Malaysia.”

Darryn Binder

DNF
Moto2 World Championship 2024 - P18 - 54 Points

"I had a really good start, thanks to which I was able to more or less catch up with the leading group. Then it went quite well because I was able to get into a good position. Unfortunately, I later came into contact with Ai Ogura and went off the track. But I came back and tried to make up the lost ground. Unfortunately, the front fork moved down a lot under braking, which robbed me of some of the feeling I had before. Going into turn eight, I think I had too much pressure, which caused the front to lock up and I crashed. A disappointing end, but it is what it is and I'll continue with the next race in a week's time, trying to find the speed on Friday. That would be nice."

Jürgen Lingg

Team Manager

"The weather made it exciting again today, with brief rain before the race. But we did everything right and made the correct decisions. We sent both riders out on slick tyres straight away so that they could build up a feeling. Both Darryn and Senna made a strong start to the race. Darryn was immediately in the top five and was able to keep up well. It was nice to see that he was able to follow with the pace of the riders in front and had everything well under control. I think even more would have been possible. Unfortunately, there was an incident with a competitor, which not only caused Darryn to lose a few positions, but also broke his brakes. That's why he crashed later, which was very unfortunate. Nevertheless, we will take the positives with us, because he had a very good speed, which he will hopefully be able to pick up again from the start next weekend. Darryn's crash happened in a very fast corner, but luckily he didn't hurt himself."

"Senna had an amazing start. It was really incredible how he managed that. Unfortunately, he couldn't keep up with the pace. He struggled because there was also a problem with the acceleration. He wasn't happy with that all weekend. We will now analyse this in detail. I think that in the end, it would still have been enough for him to finish in the points. Unfortunately, Senna also had an incident with another rider causing him to crash as well. The most important thing is that he is also unhurt."

Pictures Moto2 – Sunday Thailand GP 2024

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