MRW Issue 1

Brad Binder first
made his mark
in Grand Prix
racing in the
Moto3 class in
2016 where at
the third round of the Moto3
championship in Jerez, Spain,
the South African won his
first ever Moto3 race starting
from last on the grid. Binder
went on to win the Moto3
World Title that year with 4
races left in the season. It was
something that made people
think that this youngster
might have what it takes to
make it in the premier class
one day.
After winning the Moto3
world championship Binder
moved up to the intermediate
Moto2 class with Red Bull
KTM and had a difficult season
as a result of breaking his
arm in a crash during winter
testing. In 2018 things started
to go Binder’s way once
again with the South African
scoring his first win at the
German Grand Prix. It would
be the first win of many in
the intermediate class. The
first half of the 2019 season
was difficult for Binder due
to issues that KTM had with
their 2019 Chassis and the
introduction of the Triumph
765 engines. At about the
halfway point of the season
KTM reverted back to their
2018 Chassis and, just like
that, Brad Binder was once
again back to winning ways.
By making up a large points
deficit to the championship
leaders Binder was able to
finish only 3 points behind
eventual championship winner
Alex Marquez.
After the two races in Jerez
it was clear that while Binder
was still learning the ropes
of the big bikes, he had the
talent and speed to become
a top 10 regular on the KTM.
The weekend of the Brno GP
Brad seemed to have decent
pace throughout the practice
sessions and managed
to qualify a brilliant 7th place
for Sunday’s race.
Binder got a relatively average
start but managed
to quickly find his way up
the field after finding a gap
around the outside through
the first corner leaving him
on the inside for Turn two. In
an exclusive interview Binder
showed that he is an experienced,
calm and composed
rider, saying that “the start
was pretty chilled”. Binder
then went around the outside
of his KTM teammate
Pol Espargaro to take fourth
position.