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take in everything, like an annoying kid in the<br />
background. A few years later I was working<br />
alongside him with Aki! For me it was super-nice,<br />
and I was still trying to learn as much as I could.<br />
I was like a sponge around him. He always had<br />
the patience to sit with me and answer all my<br />
questions, and at the same time if I could help<br />
him with something – because we were both<br />
trying to develop a bike – then I did because we<br />
had to develop software and I could use my skills<br />
with programs and things. I think we were quite a<br />
competitive team.”<br />
Binder won eight Grands Prix in three years and<br />
was close to the 2019 title. MotoGP then turned<br />
up on the doorstep. After Binder’s rookie season<br />
in 2020, Madrid was again in demand for 2021.<br />
“Mike Leitner [then Red Bull KTM Team Principal]<br />
asked me to go with Brad. Again, I resisted. I said:<br />
‘Mike, there’s no way! It is too much. I’ve never<br />
worked in MotoGP so how can I handle this?!’ It<br />
was another level: two bikes, a much bigger crew,<br />
the tires, brakes and electronics were different.<br />
They needed someone with experience. He told<br />
me a few stories of his own start in the deep<br />
end with another factory and it gave me some<br />
confidence. At least nobody could say I was overconfident!<br />
I was very honest from the beginning,<br />
and Mike still thought I could do it. When<br />
someone has a lot more experience than me then<br />
I really listen to what they have to say. I thought if<br />
‘Mike Leitner is telling me this…then I trust him’.”<br />
“When I arrived in the MotoGP box, I realized the<br />
rest of the guys were a few steps in front of me. I<br />
would ask them if they’d sorted something: ‘done’.<br />
Then if they had checked something else: ‘done’.<br />
It was incredible. The experience was almost<br />
overwhelming, and I knew working like that and<br />
being surrounded by a crew like this made my life<br />
super-easy. They are experts.”