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South African finishes eighth as his team-mate Pedro Acosta storms to podium finish in Brno.
Brad Binder finished eighth in Brno on Sunday. Picture: Red Bull KTM
Brad Binder might not be thrilled with his eighth-place finish in the Czechia MotoGP, but he is excited over the good pace shown by the Red Bull KTM RC16 over the weekend.
His team-mate Pedro Acosta managed to stay with the Ducati of winner Marc Marquez and runner-up Marco Bezzecchi’s Aprilia for a long time before going off the boil to still finish third ahead of Pecco Bagnaia. Tech3 KTM rider Enea Bastianini was also in the hunt for a podium place before sliding out on lap seven.
Both Acosta and Bastianini stood on the sprint podium on Saturday, a race also dominated by Marquez. Binder just missed out on Saturday points by finishing in 10th place.
Brad Binder promoted
Binder rode a solid main race from 19th on the grid to cross the line in ninth on Sunday. Fermin Aldeguer’s three-second penalty for an infringement on Miguel Oliviera saw Binder gain one place.
“I’m by no means happy with eighth position, but even though it doesn’t look like it, we are slowly starting to figure it out. The really good thing is that both Pedro and Enea were super-fast this weekend so I have some good things to check and figure out how they are doing it,” Binder told the KTM website after the race.
ALSO READ: VIDEO: Brad Binder’s MotoGP Red Bull KTM RC16 from up close
“I still never had the pace I was looking for but somehow we were a little better today. I found a way to be better in mid-corner and exit but I was losing a lot of time in braking and entry. This is something we have to work on and find the combination, if we can do that then it can be very positive.”
Still 12th in title race
Binder earned eight points in Brno and remains 12th in the title race. Out in front, Marc Marquez (381 points) now leads his brother Alex by a mammoth 120 points.
Brad Binder’s brother Darryn Binder was less successful in Brno, finishing the Moto2 outside the points in 17th place.
The season now takes its customary four-week summer break before action returns at KTM’s home track, the Red Bull Ring in Austria, from 15 to 17 August.
