Binder pulls a proper blinder
Fast-when-it-matters man takes third
Second to last to a front row start and podium finish… that was Brad Binder’s impressive transformation in Motegi, as the KTM rider returned to the podium for the first time since the opening race of the season in Qatar.
The South African ended a wet FP2 in 24th place and over 2.5s off the pace. Only veteran Suzuki test rider Takuya Tsuda was slower.
The former Moto3 World Champion though turned round what looked like being a damp squib Saturday to claim a first MotoGP front row in treacherous conditions.
Binder has always had top billing as MotoGP’s ultimate Sunday man. Immaterial of where he qualifies, he has the knack of delivering.
Motegi was his 15th finish in 16 races this season. In all but one, he’s finished higher than he qualified and his aggressive charges through the pack have seen him make up 81 places on his starting positions.
What made his Motegi podium all the more impressive was he started the 24-lap race with Michelin’s hard compound rear tyre. Talk about a journey into the unknown. Binder hadn’t turned a single lap on that tyre in a weather-disrupted weekend prior to the race but it proved decisive after he broke away from Marc Marquez and KTM colleague Miguel Oliveira before snatching second from a fading Martin on the final lap.
Binder said: “At the beginning I was
‘It took the first 10 laps to figure things out’
really struggling to understand how hard I could push with the rear. I took the first ten laps to figure things out.”
Binder believes the low grip conditions of Aragon and Motegi have helped his fight for the podium in both. But KTM’s RC16 still lacks turning and a confidence-inspiring feeling in straightline braking.