Brad Binder finished the main race of the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix in second place – just like in the Sprint race in Losail. It was a season start with a double podium for the Red Bull KTM rider, who was the main pursuer of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) during yesterday’s race. However, he also had to fend off Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati).
The South African said in a press conference that the result was more satisfying than Saturday’s: ‘We can’t complain. Two second places to start the season is fantastic. I am much happier with the second place in the main race than I was with the second place in the Sprint race. In the Sprint race I felt like something was missing, but in the main race it was much better. The team did a great job, solving some of our Saturday problems‘.
According to Binder, the race was not easy, also having to resist the temptation to attack Bagnaia’s lead: ‘I knew it was going to be a very difficult race for us because sometimes we are very hard on the rear tire and I needed to make it last until the end, so I was as clean as I could be. It was difficult to keep my composure because I could see that Pecco was right there – it’s like chasing a carrot and you want to go after it. But I knew that if I tried to attack, I could gain a bit back, but I would probably lose a few seconds in the last laps. So, I had to be really smart. It was fantastic to fight with Jorge and I had a lot of fun. Let’s see if we can improve a bit because it would be fantastic to give these guys a good fight next time’.
