Difficult conditions greeted the Moto3 riders on the first day of the Australian GP at Phillip Island. Track temperatures of 11°C and heavy rain made it a tough Friday for the lower cylinder class competitors, who set their best times in FP1. Red Bull KTM Ajo riders Bo Bendsneyder and Brad Binder completed the day with the ninth and twenty-second best laps, respectively, on the combined timesheet. The first practice session began with the track already wet and fine rain complicating mattersurther. For rookie Bendsneyder, the adverse conditions were less of a problem as he took the time to study the layout. The Dutchman was inside the Top 10 at all times, completing the 40-minute run in ninth with a 1:51.741. In contrast, Binder waited until just over 10 minutes had elapsed to go out on track, riding only eleven laps –his best time of 1:52.711 putting him 22nd. Conditions worsened further in the afternoon, making it impossible to improve lap times. Much more rain and cooler temperatures meant that the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders put in only five laps. After returning to the garage for their first stop, both Binder and Bendsneyder preferred to avoid risks and not go back out. Binder was sixth –1:55.971– and Bendsneyder thirteenth –1:56.825– in the session.
64 BO BENDSNEYDER:
“Even though there was bad weather, I was able to confirm that I really like the track and I think I can do very well here because of my riding style. Even with the rain, I saw that I can go fast –and I think that can also be the case in the dry. Today in FP1 my laps were useful for learning the track, and in FP2 we tried going out but it was raining too much and we decided to return to the pits. In the end, the good news is we’ve seen that we can be fast in the rain, but although the forecast is not very clear, I hope that the track is dry for the rest of the weekend. For now we are ready to be quick in the wet.”
Results FP1:
source: ajo.fi, motogp.com
