“It was clear,” Aleix Espargaro reveals why he refused to chase after Brad Binder for a podium finish at the 2023 Dutch GP

Aleix Espargaro shares his clever reasoning behind not overtaking Brad Binder in the Dutch GP.

“It was clear,” Aleix Espargaro reveals why he refused to chase after Brad Binder for a podium finish at the 2023 Dutch GP

Aleix Espargaro and Brad Binder

Aleix Espargaro came out of the Dutch MotoGP weekend in Assen a happy man. Meanwhile such wasn’t the case for Brad Binder’s who’s deja vu moment we went on to ruin things for the KTM rider. During Saturday’s sprint race, Brad Binder’s infraction came on the penultimate lap which specified a three second penalty. Him exceeding track limits was not a one time occurrence as it went on to happen again on Sunday.

While Brad Binder and Aleix Espargaro were fighting for the last podium spot, Aleix went on to take it easy in the closing stages. The Aprilia rider refused to make a lunge on Binder despite having a good chance. However, he further specified that there was a proper reason behind his planned action. All the drama had taken place during the penultimate lap of the 2023 Dutch GP.

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While the riders were going through turn 8, Aleix Espargaro saw Brad Binder had gone onto exceed track limits. This meant that despite finishing third, Binder lost the podium to the Aprilia rider due to his infraction. Aleix was overjoyed with his podium finish as the team hadn’t gotten one ever since Maverick Vinales came home second in the season opening Portuguese GP.

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Aleix Espargaro was confident that Brad Binder would be penalised

Aleix Espargaro
Aleix Espargaro

In an interview, here is what the Aprilia rider had to say. “It was clear. I knew that Brad was struggling in the last laps with the soft tyre, he was sliding everywhere. “He accelerated very early at that corner [Turn 8] to try to protect the next corner, because I was very close, and he made a mistake. I knew clearly from the moment he touched the green. I feel sorry for him, but rules are rules,” the Aprilia rider continued .

This podium in Assen will be Aleix Espargaro’s first podium finish of the year. It means that the Aprilia rider has moved up to 8th place in the rider’s standings. With the first half of the MotoGP season done and dusted, riders will have a six weeks break to relax and recover before the racing action begins again. It will be interesting to see what all Espargaro has to offer this season.

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