18/06/2023

Déjà vu: Bad luck strikes again at the German Grand Prix

The Moto2 race at the Sachsenring did not go well for LIQUI MOLY Husqvarna Intact GP's Darryn Binder and Lukas Tulovic. Once again, Darryn Binder was kicked out of the race through no fault of his own, while local hero Lukas Tulovic also failed to see the chequered flag at his home Grand Prix in front of the passionate German fans.

Darryn Binder's longed-for injury comeback seems to remain elusive. A week ago in Mugello, he was already knocked down in the starting scrum through no fault of his own. This time, Jeremy Alcoba caused the crash, pushing Bo Bendsnyder to the outside in turn 1, causing the Dutchman to crash into the South African and end his race. It was a bitter pill to swallow, as the 25-year-old had shown a good pace in qualifying and was in high spirits to make up ground in the race and fight for the points.

Drama also for Lukas Tulovic. The German was fighting for 17th place after making up four positions at the start of the 25-lap race when, on lap six, his Kalex' front clipped in on him while he was trying to keep up with Ai Ogura, leaving him disappointed and bruised in the gravel of turn 12.

Once again, it's time for the Moto2 squad to put the race behind them, turn their focus to Assen and start the Dutch TT with renewed motivation in just one week's time.

Results

Race
1. Pedro ACOSTA/ SPA/ KALEX
2. Tony ARBOLINOI ITA/ KALEX – (+2.730)
3. Jake DIXON/ GBR/ KALEX – (+2.825)
DNF Darryn BINDER/ RSA/ KALEX
DNF Lukas TULOVIC/ GER/ KALEX

World Championship
1. Tony ARBOLINO / ITA / 139
2. Pedro ACOSTA / SPA / 124
3. Alonso LOPEZ / SPA / 82
19. Darryn BINDER / RSA / 10
21. Lukas TULOVIC / GER / 6

Lukas Tulovic

DNF
Moto2 World Championship 2023 - P21 - 6 Points

"I was behind Ai Ogura and really wanted to keep up with him after he even held me up a bit on the first lap. Then he increased his pace a bit and, in the process, I could not quite keep up until I lost the front wheel. The crash is hard to understand because the front suddenly caught again a little. But then I went off very ungently and was also slightly hit by the bike. It was at a very fast place, the slip into the gravel bed was very painful. It's a shame, and I'm sorry for the team and all the fans who came to Sachsenring, that this stupid crash happened at the home race of all things."
"At the moment I feel like a gladiator, with some bruises and open wounds as well as a fat lip. I don't think it will be much fun to get up tomorrow morning. The important thing is that I didn't suffer any more serious injuries and that I recover well over the next few days so that I'm fully fit again by next weekend. I'm still a bit sad because after a chaotic start I felt after a few laps that I could keep up the pace. The bike was working well and I felt strong. The change we made had a positive effect. I'm sure I could have kept a high pace towards the end of the race. But the would-have-been-ifs don't help now. Next week in Assen we have to do better."

Darryn Binder

DNF
Moto2 World Championship 2023 - P19 - 10 Points

"This is 2/2 and I once again didn't make it out of the first corner. I am really really disappointed and seriously needed the laps. Sadly, as I went into Turn 1, I got hit by a bike I haven't seen the footage yet but even though I saw Bendsnyder next to me in the gravel, it seems as if someone crashed into him and I just got collected by his bike. Very unfortunate but that's racing so what can you do... Next week, in Assen I need to go out, get my head down and make sure I get directly to Q2 and grab a good grid position in order to not be amongst the trouble in the first corner. I'm sorry for the team as it was their home race and I really wanted to do my best to give them a good result but unfortunately, this was once more out of our hands today. Luckily I didn't get hurt so we can move on in a couple of days. "

Jürgen Lingg

Teammanager

"Unfortunately, the home Grand Prix didn't turn out too well for our Moto2 squad, while all the other categories managed it perfectly, with three podiums and a pole position. That was a strong performance. In Moto2, unfortunately, it didn't go as planned for us, nevertheless, it was very close yesterday in qualifying for Darryn. I think he could have easily been on the third row of the grid in terms of lap times. But unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. Lukas had a harder time, but he also set good times in the second run of Q1. Therefore, we were quite confident for today. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as we had hoped. Darryn was wiped out again in the first corner. You can't have that much bad luck. After being injured for two months, he was innocently kicked out of the race twice in a row. That's hard and you have to digest that for now. For Lukas, we wished that he could give something back to the fans at his home Grand Prix. It was hard for him, even though he set good times yesterday. We were confident, he probably could have finished in the points, but then he over-pushed it a bit. Unfortunately, he crashed in the fourth sector, which is why we have to record a double zero. We have to put this behind us now and be happy that we will continue in a few days. This way we can put it behind us quickly, but we are very sorry for the fans, for whom we would have liked to put on a better show, but sometimes it's out of your hands."

Sachsenring GP - Sunday Moto2

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