Red Bull KTM man has only finished outside the top 10 once - his rookie season in 2020.
Even with the newly-crowned world champion Marc Marquez ruled out for the rest of the year, there is still lots at stake in the last three MotoGP races of the season.
The riders are in Malaysia this weekend before returning to Europe for the final two races of the season in Portugal and Valencia.
Marquez injured his shoulder during a crash in Indonesia a week after romping to his eighth premier class crown in Japan, winning 11 of the 16 races he finished in 2025. In his absence, rookie Fermin Aldeguer and Raul Fernandez became first-time race winners in Indonesia and Australia with many others eyeing the top step of the podium.
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Brad Binder eyes top 10
Brad Binder will be hoping for his first win in more than five years to avoid the worse finish of his MotoGP career. The Red Bull KTM is 12th in the title race after his eighth place in Australia last week. His worse result was in his rookie season in 2020, where he finished in 11th place. He finished sixth, sixth, fourth and sixth in his next four seasons.
Binder, who has 126 points, is just two points off Johann Zarco (128) in 11th place. But he finds himself 20 points behind Fernandez, who moved up to 10th place after his maiden win.
The Red Bull KTM rider will also be aware of Luca Marini lurking just six points behind him in 13th place.
Alex Marquez (379) has sewn up second place behind his brother Marc (575), but the battle for third is still wide open. Marco Bezzecchi (282) holds the advantage over two-time world champion Pecco Bagnaia (274) going into Sepang.
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Long shot for Acosta
Binder’s KTM team-mate Pedro Acosta has a long shot of making the top three. The Spaniard is fifth on 233 points and will definitely need to record his first premier class win to have any chance of catching Bezzecchi and Bagnaia.
Brad Binder’s brother Darryn Binder and Ruché Moodley will also be eyes points finishes in their respective Moto2 and Moto3 races at the 5.54km Sepang International Circuit.
The MotoGP sprint race starts at 9am on Saturday. On Sunday, the Moto3 race starts at 6am and followed by the Moto2 race at 7.15am and the MotoGP main race at 9am.
