The two-time MotoGP race winner scored his first front row start in the premier class when he finished third in qualifying in Japan. Brad Binder briefly led on the opening lap before being shuffled back into third place. But the South African motorcycle racer passed Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin in the closing stages to take second to equal his best result of the 2022 season.
It was Binder’s first podium finish since the opening night of the campaign in Qatar, with KTM largely struggling for consistency and form through 2022. The 27-year-old Binder does sit sixth in the standings, 42 points clear of the next-best KTM team-mate Miguel Oliveira. With KTM hunting a number of key figures from Ducati for its technical workforce and utilizing its Red Bull ties to develop its aerodynamics at the Formula 1 team’s base from 2023. Binder hopes his Motegi weekend acts as a rocket platform for greater or higher things in the future.
Having qualified in the top five just once in 2022 prior to Motegi, Binder was seen with a lot of humor sense and joked it is so nice to start on the front row, and it is so relaxed going into Flip 1. The KTM rider expressed that he is so happy and proud of how this weekend turned out. Binder said that he felt like he was in need of high-quality laps within the dry, and it took him the first 10-15 laps to actually figure things out and find where his markers have been.
Binder admitted that he made quite a few mistakes early on, but he did not quite trust how much he had in the exhausting tyre to start with. The South African added that however, he was just fighting and pushing through it. Binder managed to stroll away with second place.
Binder hopes this can be a sign of things to come. The KTM racer gambled on working the exhausting rear tyre in the race having not tried it at all during the weekend prior to the race, crediting his team for the decision. About the exhausting tyre, Binder said he never tried it before the race.
Binder concluded that he has so much faith in his team and all the people have been doing all the homework as far as the tyres are concerned. Binder knew in the event that they have been pushing for it and they are not going to be unsustainable.
