Brad Binder was seen at the beginning of the season as one of the candidates for the MotoGP title for this season but the truth is that it has taken a while to present himself, for now and after five rounds, as one of the riders to do justice to the place of where bookmakers have put him at.
Even though he has, more than once, stated before GPs that ‘he 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 impressionable happening, on a regular basis.
The start of the season actually started well, with a double second place in Qatar, after having been fourth in qualifying, which left KTM officials and even MotoGP fans in general highly motivated, seeing a KTM being one very strong level in the Ducati «reign» 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 model of the championship of which he is an avowed fan – and then yes, he was fourth in the race on Sunday and proved that the crash on Saturday was just that, a mishap.
The round in Austin followed and the worst qualification so far, being 17th and then it was expected that he would suffer in the races. In the Sprint he was 12th, and in the long race, Binder, who is considered by many to be an “animal” in racing, where he often presents surprising performances and his true level, was ninth.
Back to the European rounds, Binder had a round in Spain, at the Jerez circuit, that better demonstrated his level and his best qualification so far, being fourth fastest in Q2. He would crash in the Sprint hours later, but that 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 the yellow flags. He was 22nd and from then on it was expected that the difficulties would be greater than ever!
In the Sprint he was 15th and was out of the points, while the following day he once again showed why many say that #33 is a “Sunday man”, finishing eighth despite having had problems with chattering on his KTM. RC16 and have experienced problems gripping the track.
And now the question arises: what to expect in Catalonia? The circuit suffers precisely from the lowest level of grip, something that has accompanied Binder and even more so with himself stating that the next GP ‘is not one of good memories’, even though 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 stardom!