Johannesburg — Brad Binder had a sensational weekend in Spain this past week – one that he will hope will be the springboard to even greater success in the coming races.
After a stunning sprint race win on Saturday, the Red Bull KTM driver stormed to a second-place podium finish at the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez. He led the grand prix on Sunday for most of the race, with a small error costing him the lead with five laps to go as defending MotoGP champion Francesco Bagnaia swept past him.
It resulted in a thrilling conclusion as he pushed Bagnaia relentlessly to retake the lead. In the end he came up short by fractions of a second to claim the second place – his sixth podium of his MotoGP career – a mere 0.221 seconds behind the Italian.
Despite his solid effort, the ever affable Binder was magnanimous in his praise after the race with a shoutout to his team.
“If you told me I would get a win and a second after Friday afternoon when we came out and we were sitting in 11th place in Q1, I would have signed for it straight away,” Binder said in his post-race interview on motogp.com.
“What a job my team has done. They have absolutely turned it around for us. The bike felt fantastic ... We've made such a step forward.
“I feel strong. I feel I can fight with the guys.
“I made one big mistake with five laps to go. The gap that I had built, it just evaporated completely in one lap.
“You must live and learn with that, and we keep fighting. I really wanted to get (Bagnaia) in the last corner, and I did my quickest lap of the race in the last lap, but it was just not close enough in the last corner.”
Teammate Jack Miller finished third to secure the final podium step for KTM, and the performance of the Munderfing-based team will surely have Ducati looking over their shoulders with a degree of trepidation.
The Italian motorbike manufacturer has been the early pacesetter this year but with Binder & Co now punching a hole in their invulnerable visage, the next few races could be an exciting time for South African MotoGP fans.
France is up next at Le Mans in two weeks’ time, followed by Italy, Germany, the Dutch TT, Great Britain, Austria, Catalunya and San Marino during this European block of races, and Binder will be confident he can claim even more results.
Although he made an error, he showed great maturity in the closing stages when opting for discretion instead of valour.
“I left nothing on the table,” Binder said.
“I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night if I hadn’t tried. I was close, but on (Sunday) we didn’t get the job done.
“It was solid points, and it was a fantastic day for me and the team. Another KTM on the podium and we will keep working. There is always next week.
“(Sunday) wasn’t the day for it. I was a little too far back and (Bagnaia) was in the middle of the track.
“If I had gone, I would have been on the inside curb going straight towards the gravel. Sometimes the risk is worth it and (on Sunday) there wasn’t that opportunity.”
A bounty of 32 points over the weekend propelled Binder into third with 62 points in the world riders’ championship, 25 points behind early championship leader Bagnaia and only three points behind second-placed Marco Bezzecchi.
IOL Sport