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Brad Binder on track for best-ever MotoGP season
South African rider converts his first-ever premier class front row start into runner-up finish in Japan.
Red Bull KTM Brad Binder raises the trophy for second place on the podium after Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix in Motegi, Tochigi on Sunday. Picture: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP
While finishing on the podium of the MotoGP riders’ championship might be a tall order for Brad Binder, the South African is nonetheless on course to make 2022 his best season in motorcycling’s premier class.
The Red Bull KTM rider followed up his fourth place at the Aragon MotoGP the week before with a runner-up finish at the Japan Grand Prix in Motegi on Sunday. The 20 points he earned helped him leapfrog Frenchman Johann Zarco into sixth place in the standings.
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With four races left this year, Binder has 148 points and is 11 points adrift race winner in Japan and 2023 KTM team-mate, Jack Miller (159 points). Italian Enea Bastianini (170) is 22 points ahead of Binder in fourth place.
Binder finished in 11th place in 2020 earning him the Rookie of the Year honours, while he improved to sixth overall in 2021.
His second place at Motegi came off the back off him qualifying in third place to earn the first front-row start of his MotoGP career. Red Bull KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti heaped praise on Binder for converting his good starting position into a podium place.
“Starting from the first row meant that we had another good and improved qualification,” Guidotti told KTM’s website.
“When we begin a race from the first row we know we can show our potential. Brad took the opportunity to go for the podium; an amazing job.”
Binder’s second place in Japan was his fourth podium finish in MotoGP following his wins in Brno in 2020 and in Spielburg in 2021, plus his runner-up finish in Qatar this season.
Brad’s younger brother Darryn Binder has less successful day at the office, crashing his Yamaha on the 14th lap. He is 22nd in the standings with 10 points.
“I had a good start and had quite a good rhythm during the race. But unfortunately, at lap 14 I had a small crash and a disappointing end to the race,” Darryn Binder told his team’s website.
MotoGP now moves to Buriram for the Thailand Grand Prix on 2 October.
To see the rest of the 2022 MotoGP calendar, click here.
