‘Bradical’ win in Spain not just flash in the pan

WHILE I have commented about Brad Binder – also known as “Bradical” – before, I think after his magnificent Spanish Moto3 GP victory in front of 120 000 enthusiastic spectators at the Jerez circuit on Sunday, he fully justifies further mention.

It’s been many years since South Africans like Kork Ballington and Jon Ekerold were occupying first place in any sort of motorcycle world championship event. Coincidentally, it was around the same time as Jody Scheckter was staking his claim for the Formula 1 crown. But that’s where Brad – who is astride a factory KTM and riding for the Red Bull outfit – is now.

Actually he was already leading the world championship even before the start of the Spanish race. And this was despite not having won any of the first three rounds. He finished second, just seven thousandths of a second behind the winner in the opening meeting in Qatar. This was followed by two third places in the Grands Prix of Argentina and the United States. In the North American event on the undulating Formula 1 GP circuit in Austin, Texas, earlier this month, he set the fastest lap and led for much of the race before being pipped on the final lap.

Getting back to the Spanish race, he could not possibly have been in a worse position before the start. Firstly, he had been relegated to the back of the grid after being penalised when it was discovered that his team was using engine mapping that was not sanctioned for use by the MotoGP organisers. Now despite the fact that this was presumably to enhance the performance of his KTM, he had still not been able to set the quickest qualifying time. So when the race started, there he was with a now-approved re-mapped engine, and way back in 35th place on the grid.

This of course makes his race progress all the more incredible. The boy from Potchefstroom is obviously race smart and he used every trick and tactic to overtake the other riders, sometimes in seemingly impossible situations. By the end of the first lap he had already overtaken 14 riders.

Although he was able to engage with the leading trio soon after the halfway mark, he was now among the young rocketeers and naturally his overtaking progress slowed. But it certainly didn’t grind to a halt and he not only moved into first position, he was even able to build up a lead of 3.3 seconds by the time the flag came out.

While his was a magnificent performance, his younger brother Darryn, who is also a Moto3 competitor, was not as fortunate.

Although both were able to continue, the two actually bumped into one another during that frenetic first lap. Darryn then went down after a more serious crash, while racing for 17th place.