Brad Binder was seen at the start of the season as one of the candidates for this season’s MotoGP title but the truth is that it has taken him a while to present himself, for now and after five races, as one of the riders who does justice to the place where the bookmakers put it.
Even though he has declared more than once before the GPs that ‘is in a better position’and that he feels that he can do something, the truth is that his life has not been easy, even with many difficulties or some impressive event, on a regular basis.
The start of the season started well, with a double second place in Qatar, after being fourth in qualifying, which left KTM officials and even MotoGP fans in general very motivated, seeing a KTM being at a very high level. strong in the “reality” of Ducati but… and in Portugal, in the second round?
The South African was tenth in qualifying, crashed in the Sprint – one of his specialties in 2023 and a championship model of which he is an avowed fan – and then yes, he was fourth in the race on Sunday and showed that Saturday’s crash was just that, a setback.
It followed the round in Austin and the worst qualifying so far, being 17th and then expected to suffer in the races. In the Sprint he was 12th, and in the long race, Binder, considered by many to be an “animal” in the race, where he often presents surprising performances and his true level, was ninth.
Returning to European races, Binder had a race in Spain, at the Jerez circuit, which best demonstrated his level and his best qualifying so far, being fourth fastest in Q2. He would then crash in the Sprints hours later, but it didn’t shake his confidence and he was sixth in the long race.
At Le Mans, however, things didn’t go well in qualifying: he had an electronic problem with his bike and, when he tried to attack the times towards the end, a series of crashes affected his laps due to flags yellow. He was 22nd and from that moment it was expected that the difficulties would be greater than ever!
In the Sprint he was 15th and stayed out of the points, while the following day he again demonstrated why many say the #33 is a “Sunday man”, finishing eighth despite having had chatter problems on his KTM. RC16 and had problems with track adherence.
And now the question arises: what to expect in Catalonia? The circuit suffers precisely from the lowest level of grip, something that accompanied Binder and even more so with him stating that the next GP ‘is not one of the good memories’, even if in the Sprint he was fourth in 2023.
What is certain is that Binder is a rider who shows more work and fewer words, with him stating that the next GP could be a pleasant surprise. Follow everything on Motorcycle Sports, in a few days, where we will find out how the South African can return (or not) to MotoGP glory!
