26/05/2024

Senna Agius strong fifth in thrilling Barcelona GP

This was a Barcelona Grand Prix that LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP Moto2 rider Senna Agius will certainly remember, after the Australian finished a brilliant fifth place despite a long lap, his best result to date. Team-mate Darryn Binder secured two points with 14th place.

Some race Sundays are simply something special. This was also the case on the 26th of May when none other than Moto2 rookie Senna Agius achieved his best World Championship result to date in the Grand Prix of Barcelona. However, the way there was anything but easy because even though the Australian made up three positions at the start, he first had to make it through the 21-lap race on the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. Agius made his way up to eighth place but ran over the track limits several times in the process. After the track limits warning, he adjusted his line choice but was then pushed wide by an opponent and received the penalty as a result, which he quickly completed and rejoined the race in seventh place. From then on, the pursuit of the group in the battle for fourth place began. Although the youngster lost a final duel against former Intact GP rider Jeremy Alcoba, he gained a lot of self-confidence as well as his personal best result and eleven world championship points, which saw him rise from 19th to 16th in the world championship standings and further underpin his position as the leader of the rookie classification.

For Darryn Binder, the Barcelona GP is probably one of those that he would like to tick off quickly. During the three days in Catalunya, the South African struggled badly and even though he got away well from the start in the race, making up three positions, his pace was not sufficient to pose a threat to the top 10. Thanks to a number of crashes and long-lap penalties, the 26-year-old finished fifteenth after a battle with Jaume Masia, but was then classified fourteenth due to Marcos Ramirez's disqualification and took home important championship points for the second time in a row.

The next race in Mugello is already on the agenda next Sunday, where both Moto2 riders will be looking to improve further.

Results

Race
1. Ai OGURA/ JPN/ MT Helmets - BOSCOSCURO
2. Sergio GARCIA/ SPA/ BOSCOSCURO – (+3.816)
3. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – (+9.186)
5. Senna AGIUS/ AUS/ KALEX – (+12.593)
14. Darryn BINDER/ RSA/ KALEX – (+24.747)

World Championship
1. GARCIA Sergio/ SPA – 109
2. ROBERTS Joe/ USA – 89
3. OGURA Ai/ JPN – 88
16. AGIUS Senna/ AUS – 16
22. BINDER Darryn/ RSA – 5

Senna Agius

P5 - (+12.593)
Moto2 World Championship 2024 - P16 - 16 Points

"I'm happy with this fifth place! After a good start, I was able to stay there and fight, unlike in the first races. We had made a change halfway through the weekend that focussed the bike on being able to attack on Sunday and we had already started working with the rear tyre on Friday and how the grip drop would affect it. I continued to fight my way forward and P5 is a big step forward compared to the last races. However, I'm annoyed about the long lap penalty that I received due to another rider's mistake. After the warning, I changed something and rode super carefully, but was then pushed off track and penalised. I probably could have done even better today. It's a good result that we deserve, and we'll come to tracks that I haven't been on before and we'll have to face other situations. But at least I've shown people what I can do. Let's see how the rest of the season pans out."

Darryn Binder

P14 - (+24.747)
Moto2 World Championship 2024 - P22 - 5 Points

"Unfortunately, it wasn't the race I had imagined. Right from the start, I had a really bad feeling for the rear of the bike and therefore couldn't push as hard as I would have liked. Apart from that, I knew it was going to be a long race and it would be important to take care of the tyres. Unfortunately, I didn't feel like I could use the grip at the beginning. So, I was slow in the early stages, whereas towards the end it was normal. It's disappointing that I wasn't able to do more today, because I had a good start and I was in a good position, but in the first few laps, I couldn't keep up with the pace of the guys. We still have work to do, to be able to attack more. So, let’s move over to Mugello and see what happens there."

Jürgen Lingg

Team Manager

"We are very happy for Senna. He made a strong start on Friday and did a good job in Q2, which was rewarded with a good grid position. Today he was able to start from the fourth row, which was obviously helpful. It was a bit of a shame that it was very close in qualifying, otherwise he could even have started from further up the grid. He made a good start and then mastered everything superbly because today it was incredibly difficult to plan the race well due to tyre wear. That was a great performance from him and his pace was also strong. We knew he had it in him, but he wasn't able to show it yet. He did everything right today. It's unfortunate that he got the long-lap penalty in the end. After the official warning, he didn't do anything else wrong, but then he was pushed over the limits and was effectively penalised twice. Nevertheless, today's race was another step in the right direction. We have to continue like this so that we can achieve even more results like this in the future. At this point, however, a big compliment to his team and, of course, to him. They are now a very well-working team.
Darryn had a very difficult start on Friday, so we were a day behind with him on Saturday. Nevertheless, he made it into Q2, but things didn't go optimally for him there. At least he was able to do some damage limitation. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite match the pace in the race, so he had to use all his experience to score two well-deserved points. Nevertheless, we still have to find something with him and see how and where we can improve."

Moto2 Pictures – Barcelona Sunday

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