Binder confident he can strike back at Le Mans
Brad Binder (below) predicted earlier in the year that it’s only a matter of time before he breaks his MotoGP main race duck. There could not be a better time for him to do it than at the French Grand Prix this weekend.
After starting the season like a house on fire with second places in the season opener in Qatar, things haven’t gone the Red Bull KTM rider’s way. After four rounds, he is seventh in the MotoGP world championship going into Le Mans.
Jorge Martin (92) leads the title race, followed by Pecco Bagnaia (75), Enea Bastianini (70), Pedro Acosta (69), Maverick Vinales (63), Marc Marques (60) and Binder (59).
Adding to the pressure Binder is under is the fact that KTM Tech3 rider Acosta is ahead of him in his rookie season. The Spanish teenage sensation is the talk of the town in the premier class and looks set to replace Jack Miller alongside Binder for the 2025 season.
The South African’s last main race win came in Austria in 2021. In his 51 main races since, he has been on the podium nine times.
Binder is confident he can strike back at Le Mans, a track where he last year came second in the sprint race and worked his way from 20th on the starting grid to sixth place in the main race.
“I reckon we are in for a good weekend to be honest and I’m excited to get back on the bike,” he told media this week.
“I got my feeling back at Jerez. The races didn’t go according to plan but I think we are in a much better place than we have been.”
Binder says that his team are putting some of the things they tried during testing following the Spanish MotoGP to use in France. The KTM man clocked laps around Jerez during which he posted the sixthbest lap time.
“We tested a little bit of a different rear shock that had some good points, like stability was a little bit better,” Binder added
“We are going to start with it and see again what is better, the standard or the different type of rear shock. ”
The sprint race starts at 3pm today and the main race at 2pm tomorrow.