Johannesburg - Brad Binder invoked the rule of three as he reflected on his performance at the French Grand Prix on Sunday and while he rightly expressed disappointment, the weekend remained a relative success for him and his team.
The 27-year-old came second in the sprint on Saturday and followed up that performance with a sixth-place finish in the grand prix in Le Mans. He started 10th on Sunday and his eventual classification remained an indication of how strong his Red Bull KTM could possibly be in the races to come.
“I had a really good feeling for the race and had a fantastic start, but unfortunately in Turn 4, someone hit the side of me, and I went from sixth-seventh all the way back outside the top 20,” said Binder.
“A tough one and then a tough fight to come through. I chipped away slowly but surely until I got an amazing slipstream on (teammate) Jack (Miller) and overshot the mark into Turn 9.
Your #TissotSprint podium 🤩
🥇 @88jorgemartin
🥈 @BradBinder_33
🥉 @PeccoBagnaia #GP1000 🏁 pic.twitter.com/JuLd3dxBoj
“I had to make a decision to save it and just shot across the inside of the chicane. I didn’t drop back far enough and from that mistake I had a long lap penalty.
“If bad luck comes in ‘threes’ then I think I spent them this race. It was important to keep my head down then and bring the bike home.”
Although Binder might believe that fate looked unkindly upon him on Sunday, Lady Luck also played her hand in aiding his eventual finish. A chaotic French Grand Prix also saw eight front-runners collide with each other and crash out of the race, including the likes of Alex Rins, Joan Mir and Alex Marquez.
Another Bradical charge 🥈@KTM_Racing's @BradBinder_33 has recovered 8 positions today 💪#FrenchGP 🇫🇷 | #GP1000 pic.twitter.com/rC2yVU7yQh
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 13, 2023
Miller also did not finish the race after a fantastic start, overcooking his tyres at the start and eventually dropping behind Binder.
Despite a tough grand prix, Binder left France third in the world riders’ championship on 81 points, 12 points behind second-place Marco Bezzecchi, who won in Le Mans; and 13 points behind defending champion Francesco Bagnaia.
MotoGP goes on a short hiatus for the next month and will return to action at the Italian Grand Prix on 11 June. By then KTM, Binder and Miller could have an even better handle on their motorcycle and push for even greater honours.
@FreemanZAR