High hopes for PETRONAS Sprinta Racing at AustrianGP

No rest for Darryn Binder and John McPhee with second Moto3 race at Spielberg this weekend

PETRONAS Sprinta Racing’s Moto3 riders Darryn Binder and John McPhee will be aiming for another double points finish at Spielberg, as the circuit hosts the second of two back-to-back races – the AustrianGP.

Binder was rewarded with a top-six finish at the StyrianGP, after taking a gamble on slick tyres and also recorded the fastest lap of the race. With unpredictable weather the norm at Spielberg, the South African will be hoping that the experience gained in the tricky conditions last weekend will come to his aid in Sunday’s AustrianGP. With only six points between Darryn in sixth and the fifth placed rider in the championship, he will also be aiming to overhaul this deficit.

Unfortunately team-mate McPhee wasn’t able to make the most of the slick tyre, after early contact resulted in damage to his bike. The Scot proved to be one of the strongest riders throughout the StyrianGP and will be aiming to repeat this performance this weekend. John will also be hoping to be within the fight for the podium and to move himself higher in the riders’ standings from his current 14th place, where he has 40 points.

Track action will commence at 9am local time (3pm MYT) on Friday for Binder and McPhee with Free Practice 1, while on Sunday the lights will go out for the 23-lap Moto3 race at 11am local time (5pm MYT).

“We’ve got another race at Spielberg this week and that means we get to try again, which is great. I think we’ll go into it with the same mindset as last weekend and just try to do our best in every practice. I’ve shown that no matter what the conditions are, I’m fast. I’m planning to just do the same and try to improve again in the race. I want to be amongst the top-five and ultimately fight for the podiums – and for those wins.” – Darryn Binder

“I felt really comfortable and confident last weekend. I was able to complete some good lap times alone and was consistently one of the strongest riders throughout the StyrianGP. The race could have been better, but it was a gamble going on the slick tyre. We have a couple of areas that we learned could be improved during the race, to enable us to fight more. I’m looking forward and really excited to be able to do it again this weekend.” – John McPhee