Brad Binder put in a stunning last lap to win in France, making it back-to-back wins for the South African. He took the lead from Romano Fenati on the penultimate lap and rode a brilliant defensive lap to hold off the Italian to the chequered flag.
Fenati took the lead on lap three and remained unheeded until Binder forced his way past with a lap to go. The Italian Sky VR46 rider finished second just 0.099 seconds behind his championship rival. Jorge Navarro finished third, with his Estrella Galicia teammate Aron Canet in fourth.
Just over a second covered the top three finishers in a hard-fought battle for the podium places. A confident Canet made some impressive moves on his more experienced competitors throughout the race. He set the fastest lap and scored his career-best finish, the rookie narrowly missing out on his first podium.
The pace of the leading group proved too much for the chasing pack. Six seconds further back, Nicolo Bulega finished fifth, an impressive result after a vicious high side in qualifying. The beaten up rookie rode through the pain barrier as he fought off Fabio Quartararo in sixth, Andrea Migno in seventh and pole setter Niccolo Antonelli in eighth.
In his 80th championship race, Binder is increasingly looking like the man to beat for the 2016 title. He rode a magnificent defensive last lap to hold off Fenati’s attack, on a bike that was unknown to him until the sighting lap. His Red Bull KTM Ajo team took the decision to rebuild his bike after an unknown technical problem brought to an end his warm up session. It’s the South African’s second consecutive victory after a win from the back of the grid last time out in Jerez.
Binder leads the championship with 102 points, 24 clear of Navarro, with Fenati in third. The championship resumes in Mugello on May 22.
