16/04/2023

No luck for the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto2 team in Austin

There is little good news for the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto2 team after the American Grand Prix. On Saturday, Darryn Binder suffered a hand injury that forced him to retire early from the weekend. This meant that all hopes for the race were pinned on Lukas Tulovic, but the returnee crashed just a few corners after the race start.

16 laps had to be completed on this sunny, yet windy, race Sunday on the 5.5 km long and demanding Circuit of the Americas. Unfortunately for Lukas Tulovic, the race ended as quickly as it had begun. The German, who wanted to celebrate his comeback this weekend, slipped out of the race on the first lap and was not able to rejoin the race. The disappointment is enormous, but it is more important that the 22-year-old did not injure himself and can therefore travel unharmed to Jerez de la Frontera, where he wants to fight back with fresh fighting spirit.

Only time after the operation on his metacarpal fracture can tell whether his teammate Darryn Binder will be fit again in just two weeks for the Jerez Grand Prix, which will take place from the 28th to 30th of April. The whole team wishes the South African a speedy recovery and a quick return to continue his strong development.

Melancholy is certainly not the mantra of the Memmingen-based racing team and so the LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP team is already looking to the future, to the Gran Premio de España to be precise, in good spirits.

Results

Race
1. Pedro ACOSTA/ SPA/ KALEX
2. Tony ARBOLINO/ ITA/ KALEX – (+0.146)
3. Bo BENDSNEYDER/ NED/ KALEX – (+5.851)
DNF Lukas TULOVIC/ GER/ KALEX

Moto2 Championship Standings
1. ARBOLINO Tony / ITA / 61
2. ACOSTA Pedro/ SPA/ 54
3. CANET Aron/ SPA/ 41
16. BINDER Darryn/ RSA/ 10

Lukas Tulovic

DNF
Moto2 World Championship 2023

"Unfortunately, my first race was only one sector long. It was quite chaotic at the back of the field, of course, I tried to make up some positions, but my start was not so good. But then I felt good in the first chicane, so I started to overtake. Probably the rider in front of me didn't notice me, which led to a contact and consequently to my crash. That was a classic racing accident and unfortunately, it went badly for me. We have to put it behind us now and then go back to Europe, to Jerez, to continue better and hopefully start from the front to avoid such situations."

Jürgen Lingg

Team Manager

"Unfortunately, there is not much positive to report from our Moto2 team's point of view. It was difficult for Lukas to return to this track after four years. On top of that, the injury was still in the back of his mind, especially on Friday. That's why he started very cautiously. But on Saturday he improved well. We had to be satisfied with that. For the race, we would have hoped that Lukas would improve again as he did from Friday to Saturday. Then he could have scored points. Such a result would have been good for all of us. Unfortunately, Lukas touched another rider on the first lap and had to retire. I think that was a classic race accident that happens on the first lap. But Lukas has to put it behind him quickly and prepare well for Jerez, where he knows the track practically inside out and has already shown good races there. Then, we’re confident, it will already work out in two weeks.
Darryn's retirement from the weekend after practice three is very hard to take because we wanted to continue the uphill trend with him. It was impossible to miss that he is getting better and better with the bike. We were always well in the game with him until the crash, he managed to put in a super-fast lap that would even have been P4 in the combined timesheet of the practice sessions at the end if it hadn't been cancelled. So, he had to step on the gas again to achieve the given goal, which was the direct entry into Q2. In the process, the unfortunate high-sider happened, which can also happen. Unfortunately, he injured two fingers in the process. Now we have to see that Darryn can have surgery as soon as possible, in the best case already on Tuesday. We wish him a speedy recovery and then we hope that everything goes well until Jerez. But it is very pleasing what Darryn is showing. Although there was also a lot of bad luck involved and so, we also have to take the positives with him and that is that his learning curve is going steeply upwards."

Americas GP Moto2

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