For Darryn Binder, the excellent qualifying result exceeds all expectations and hopes after the South African injured his back at the Austrian Grand Prix and was only a silent spectator for a few weeks. The 25-year-old carefully reacquainted himself with his Kalex and the demanding corner combinations of the Indian race track.

Ambitious and hungry for success, Darryn put down a 2’03.247 on the wet track in Q1, which paved the way for him to progress to the all-important Qualifying 2. A few minutes later he managed a small sensation. Just 0.678s behind pole-sitter Jake Dixon, he lined up on row two in fifth place on the grid, from where he looks forward to the 18-lap race with more than hope, even if his dry pace still has room for improvement.

The race start for the Moto2 class is at 10:15 am (CEST).

Darryn Binder
P5 – 2’02.602 (+0.678)

“I think today it really paid off to go through Q1 in order to understand the track conditions a little better. Luckily I was able to capitalize to Q2, which is cool as it’s my first race back after hurting myself in Austria. It’s been a tough year for myself and my teammate. We all had a couple of injuries and again today, Lukas has hurt himself. I wish him all the best and hope he can come back as soon as possible. It’s nice to get in a good Qualifying for the team and try to bring everybody’s spirits up a little bit. Tomorrow will be another story. Let’s see what happens in the race. It’s going to be a long hard race as it’s super hot and I feel like my pace in the dry wasn’t what it was in the wet. So we got some work to do tomorrow in the race. I am looking forward to it and I hope to bring home the best result possible and try and enjoy the first race back with the team.”