MotoGP, Brad Binder: “The front row? A great but strange feeling for me.”

The weather in Motegi shuffled the cards, and the qualifications crowned a Marc Marquez who regains a pole that he hasn’t had since 2019. But in the first row, on a track that was still wet, the first in his career, was another rider who historically has always had excellent results on wet tracks: Brad Binder. We should remember that the KTM rider won a race on a wet track last year in Austria, at the Red Bull Ring, refusing to change his tires after the flag-to-flag. The South African rider, therefore, seems to have a certain affinity with the rain, but tomorrow's weather promises clear skies, which will turn his race into a unknown.

You were among the last in the FP2, then you managed to start in the front row during qualifying on a wet track. What changed?
“It’s nice to be in the front row for the first time,” Brad Binder admitted. “It’ll be strange to start without having a bunch of riders in front of me. I had some strange sensations on the bike this morning. I didn’t do badly at the first lap, I had a drop at the second and, at the third, I had the impression of simply idling on the track. In qualifying, I knew I was going to have to change something and find the right sensation with the front. Fortunately, that’s what happened.”

Even in the last race in Aragon, your performance in the race was excellent. After a good start, you stayed in the leading group for a good part of the race, also dueling with Aleix for third place. How important will this qualification be in your race tomorrow?
“It’s going to be weird, but it’s an extremely good thing in view of the race. I know it won’t be easy. We only had one free session when it was dry, and the first two times out were challenging, so tomorrow we’ll try to get some more information during the warm-up and then face the race in the best way possible.”

How did you feel about the KTM on the dry asphalt? Do you have a clear picture yet?
“No. I think the team still has to decide. Luckily for us, our rivals also had only one dry free session, so we’ll have to take advantage of the warm-up to be able to prepare for the race in an optimal way. But the bike behaved well. I had nothing to complain about. We certainly still have a margin on which we have to improve.”