Binder sixth on cold BritishGP opening day

PETRONAS Sprinta Racing’s Moto3 riders Darryn Binder and John McPhee end first day of Silverstone’s return sixth and 15th respectively

Silverstone came alive with Moto3 bikes for the first time in two years, as PETRONAS Sprinta Racing’s Darryn Binder ended a cold opening day of the BritishGP sixth, while John McPhee was 15th after a difficult start to his home GP.

Binder got his BritishGP off to a strong start, immediately setting the second fastest lap in the early moments of FP1. Using the time to reacquaint himself with Silverstone, he ended the session with the 13th fastest lap – 2mins 14.020secs. The South African was quick to improve his time from the morning and appeared as high as third in the FP2 times. Setting a fastest lap of 2mins 12.036secs, Darryn ended the day sixth in the combined times.

A steady start to FP1 saw McPhee get a couple of laps under his belt, before setting a 2mins 15.272secs lap that put him sixth. Unfortunately a Turn 12 crash after this cut his session short and ended FP1 24th. Eager to make amends for the morning highside, the Scot was quick to make improvements in FP2 and stayed within the top-15 for the majority of the session. Ultimately, John ended the opening day of his home GP 15th – 2mins 12.286secs.

Track action will resume for Binder and McPhee with FP3 tomorrow at 9am local time (4pm MYT), before the two Moto3 Qualifying sessions get underway at 12.35pm local time (7.35pm MYT).

“It’s nice to be back at Silverstone after two years away. It’s just unfortunate that the temperatures are a little bit low. The track conditions seemed to be good and the times were fast. I feel good and I’m happy with how things went today. We improved a lot in FP2, I’m really starting to feel comfortable and I’m ready for Qualifying. I think there are some little things we can do with the gearing and set up, just to get even more comfortable, but then it’s just a case of getting my head down and putting a good lap together.” – Darryn Binder, 6th (2’12.036)

“The crash wasn’t the wake up call I wanted this morning, but I had purposely tried to feel my way in because the track temperatures were really cold and I was on a hard rear tyre. I was five laps in and on the gear change, going into Turn 12, it just spun up and I highsided. It was a hard impact, especially on the lower back, so I’m glad that I’m okay to ride. I think I might wake up a little sore tomorrow.

To go out in FP2, which was my first real run of the day, and be so close to the times is a positive thing. It was so nice to see all the fans cheering and it’s amazing that we’ve got full, sold out grandstands this weekend. I really appreciate all the support from the home fans and hopefully we can put on a good show for them.” – John McPhee, 15th (2’12.286)

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