Moto2™ World Championship race really hots up after Binder takes third win of the season. Moto2™ top speed record broken again

Brad Binder took a fantastic third victory of the season at Phillip Island on Sunday in dominant fashion, leaping into the lead from second on the grid and never looking back. Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Jorge Martin also has a fantastic race to make it a team one-two, as he surged from fifth to second on the opening lap and followed Binder home to record his second podium finish of the season.

Behind them, and the man on the move at this point in the championship race, was Tom Luthi. The Dynavolt Intact GP rider only started tenth after a weather-affected qualifying session but battled through the pack to finish third, taking his sixth podium of the season and moving to within 28 points of series leader Alex Marquez who could only finish eighth.

Luthi has closed the gap to Marquez by 18 points in the last two races, and with 50 points remaining from the final two races, the title race is very much on. At a time in the season when both the MotoGP™ and Moto3™ titles chases have been decided already, mathematically the top four riders still have a chance of taking the crown, proving just how close the Moto2™ series is this year with Triumph power.

It was Stefano Manzi who was the fastest man of the weekend however, in terms of top speed. On Sunday morning’s warm-up session the Italian set a new Moto2™ outright top speed record of 301.8km/h. Three riders all bettered the 300km/h mark.

Steve Sargent, Triumph’s Chief Product Officer, said: “If we thought the championship was close before, it’s really intensifying now! Whilst the MotoGP and Moto3 titles are decided, the top four Moto2 riders are all in with a mathematical chance of winning the title which shows just how close the class is. Can Alex find his mid-season form and end on a high to defend his lead? Can Tom continue chipping away and do enough over the final two races to steal the crown? With two wins and a second place from the last four races can Brad sneak up on the lead in the closing stages? One thing’s for sure – the first season of Moto2 powered by Triumph will go down to the wire at the last race! I’m also very satisfied to see the Moto2 top speed record broken again at an incredible 301.8km/h. Our first season has been exactly what we set out hoping it would be, and even exceeded our expectations.”

The Triumph Moto2™ 765cc race engine is a development of the class-leading Street Triple RS 765cc road motorcycle and produces more than 140PS and the same visceral soundtrack.

Next up for the Moto2™ category is the Malaysian Grand Prix next weekend, 1-3 November, as the final in the back-to-back triple of Japan, Australia and Malaysia.

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ENDS

Notes to Editors

About Triumph

  • The Triumph Moto2™ 765cc race engine is a development of the class-leading Street Triple RS 765cc road motorcycle with the same visceral soundtrack.
  • First established in 1902, Triumph Motorcycles celebrated 115 years of motorcycle manufacture in 2017. For more than three decades, Triumph Motorcycles has been based in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and has produced iconic bikes that perfectly blend authentic design, character, charisma and performance.
  • Building around 65,000 bikes per year, Triumph is the largest British motorcycle manufacturer and has around 650 dealers across the world.
  • This focus, innovation and engineering passion has today created a broad range of bikes suited to all motorcycle riders, including the iconic new Scrambler 1200, epic Speed Triple, the game changing all new Street Triple 765, the class defining Tiger 900, transcontinental Tiger 1200, iconic Triumph Bonneville family including the stunning Speed Twin, Bonneville Bobber, legendary Thruxton, accessible Street Twin, Street Scrambler and iconic Bonneville T120 and T100, plus an exciting and accessible A2 range of Triumph motorcycles.
  • Triumph currently employs around 2,000 personnel worldwide and has subsidiary operations in the UK, North America, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan, Sweden (Scandinavia), Benelux, Brazil, India and Thailand as well as a network of independent distributors. Triumph has manufacturing facilities in Hinckley, Leicestershire, and Thailand plus CKD facilities in Brazil and India.
  • The Triumph Bonneville, famously named to celebrate Triumph’s 1956 land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, USA, was the original British superbike and a race-winner straight out of the crate, chosen by famous motorcyclists of the past for its legendary handling, style, and character. It’s that handling, character and style, married to modern rider-focused technology that makes the new Bonneville family THE authentic modern classic choice today.
  • Triumph has a glorious racing history, competing in and winning races in almost every class and field of motorcycle sporting achievement. From winning the second ever Isle of Man TT in 1908, through to 1960s road and track domination in Europe and America, right up to contemporary racing achievements with the 675cc Triumph triple powered 2014 Daytona 200 win, the 2014 Isle of Man Supersports TT win, the 2014 and 2015 British Supersports titles and World SuperSport racing, and again this year, with another victory at the Isle of Man Supersports TT, piloted by Peter Hickman. And of course with the new generation 765cc triple engine powering the 2019 Moto2™ championship, Triumph’s racing legend continues.