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Beaten on final lap, even Binder applauds Aleix Espargaró's maneuver: "My hat is off to you

The South African said he had been trying to beat Jack Miller at that very moment, but somehow his Aprilia rival managed to beat them both in one go

Beaten on final lap, even Binder applauds Aleix Espargaró's maneuver: "My hat is off to you

Although he was the victim of Aleix Espargaró's daring in the final meters of the Dutch GP, even Brad Binder acknowledges that the Catalan rider pulled off an impressive maneuver at the last chicane in Assen on Sunday (26). The KTM rider said he "hats off" to the Aprilia rider's maneuver.

Aleix had to make a recovery run at the Cathedral of Motorcycling after being pushed off the track by Fabio Quartararo on lap five. In the final lap however he managed to pull off a double move, passing Binder and Jack Miller in one shot at the Geert Timmer Bocht chicane to secure fourth place.

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Brad Binder elogiou a manobra de Aleix Espargaró em Assen (Foto: KTM)
Brad Binder praised Aleix Espargaró's maneuver at Assen (Photo: KTM)

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At that point in the race, however, Binder had been mounting an attack, trying to pass Miller to take fourth place himself.

"I feel like I did 25 laps of qualifying," Binder said. "It was a good race, I was losing a lot of time in some places and recovering a lot in others. The guys did a great job, the best bike I had all weekend was the one I raced and I thought I was holding fourth place, but clearly I wasn't," he followed.

As Aleix passed, Binder had to adjust the line he was on, which caused him to hit Miller's elbow.

"I went to pass Jack, because I saw that he was having a problem with his tires or something. It looked like he was really having trouble accelerating," Brad recounted. "So I came over and went to pass him, and as soon as I put it on the inside, I was about to reach the apex, and I just saw his bike," he related.

"I pulled my leg and tried to get as close to him as I could, but obviously as soon as I got up, I went right at Jack. So it was kind of a sandwich there. Not one I wanted to be in," he pondered.

Asked whether Aleix's maneuver at the last chicane had been clean or desperate, Binder replied, "To be honest, man, hats off to him!"

"I was coming all the way in, obviously, to try to beat Jack, and somehow he managed to beat both of us!" he closed.

MotoGP is now on vacation and will resume on August 7 with the British GP at Silverstone.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.