In sports, there is an expression that lightning does not strike in the same place twice.
But tell that to South Africa’s Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) who was deprived of a podium place in the Dutch MotoGP for the second time in one weekend at the Assen track on Sunday.
When Binder looks back on his career in several years, Sunday, June 25, 2023 will pop into his mind again.
After finishing third in Saturday’s sprint, he was penalized by three seconds for crossing the boundary of the track by a few millimeters in the last lap.
Had it been earlier in the race, he would have been penalized with a detour lap, but there were no more laps left. This resulted in him being placed fifth.
Binder said he doesn’t remember the incident, but that rules are rules.
And then Sunday’s MotoGP arrived in front of thousands of spectators.
Binder, who was in the second starting row (fifth), got off to a flying start and was already ahead in the first lap.
He raced ahead of Francesco Bagnaia for three laps before being overtaken. Binder was also overtaken by Marco Bezzecchi around the halfway mark.
Binder was challenged by Aleix Espargaro in the final 10 laps.
The South African was steady, he raced masterfully and was on his way to a podium place with Espargaro on his rear wheel.
But then Binder again paid a heavy price by chance in the same turn as in Saturday’s lightning race.
Binder made the same mistake by again crossing the boundary of the track (the green painted part) by a few millimetres… and again he lost his third podium place.
Did he get any benefit from it?
The MotoGP was won by the Italian Francesco (Pecco) Bagnaia in his Ducati Lenovo after he was also first in Saturday’s lightning race.
Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46) was second, followed by Espargaro (Aprilia), who was placed third ahead of Binder.
Binder was fourth after his penalty, followed by Jorge Martin (Pramac Ducati) and Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati).
Several riders fell, such as Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM), Miguel Oliveira (Aprilia), Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo), Maverick Viñales (Aprilia), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Yamaha) and Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati).
It was Bagnaia, the reigning world champion,’s fourth win this year and his second consecutive victory at the Assen circuit.
He is almost unstoppable on his way to his second straight title. He now boasts 194 points in the championship standings and is 35 points ahead of Jorge Martin (159 points), followed by Bezzecchi (158), Binder (114), Zarco (109), Luca Marini (98) and Miller (79).
The next race is not until August 5 again with the lightning race in the British Grand Prix, followed by the MotoGP on August 6.
