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The weekend in Indian was below Brad Binder’s expectations. After almost reaching the podium yesterday in the sprint, he tried the feat again today in the race, but missed it ... again. It wasn’t an easy task, given the qualification that relegated him to a 12th place on the starting grid. Brad gave it his all, and his KTM responded to the call, but the gaps that needed to be shortened proved to be too much for the KTM rider, who helplessly watched his tires inexorably wear out, crushing his dream of getting on the podium. In the last stages of the race, with two big names like Marquez and Bagnaia out of the fight, he unexpectedly ended up battling with a reborn Joan Mir, who hasn’t been in the top positions of the standings for almost the entire season. A battle Brad won after the Spanish rider’s mistake, when he ended up going wide in a corner. For Brad Binder – currently 4th in the standings, with 100 points behind the leader, Pecco Bagnaia – it’s time to leave the scorching temperatures of the Indian circuit behind him and set his sights on the Motegi track in Japan.
“Today was a challenging race,” the South African rider explained. “The choice of tires was the correct one, but I struggled to bring the bike to the finish. I kept a good pace throughout the race but, five laps from the end, I realized that the tire was at its limit. It was no picnic.”
You came within one step of the podium. We saw you battling with a reborn Mir for 4th place. A duel that many might not have expected to see at this point in the championship.
“I did my best, although I’m not entirely satisfied with the result. I had higher expectations, but the team worked well throughout the weekend. Now we’ll need a reset, and we’re already focused on the next stage of the championship in Japan.”
The Indian track put the endurance of the riders to the test, and Brad Binder has a good idea of the aspect that impacted his performance in the race.
“Personally, more than the physical effort for the circuit itself, what really made the difference here in India were the temperatures. I did twenty-one laps behind other bikes today, and the heat was hellish. I think I burned myself a bit everywhere inside my suit. My legs got cooked on the bike. I’m starting to think we’ll need air conditioning on our bikes next year!” Brad concluded, jokingly.
