“17th on Saturday, 4th on Sunday” Brad Binder’s rookie season in MotoGP, by Florian Ferracci (Red Bull Ring 1).

After winning his first victory in the MotoGP category in Brno, as well as that of KTM, Brad Binder arrived at the Red Bull Ring among the favorites. The Austrian manufacturer had already carried out private tests there, but with Pol Espargaro while Binder was stuck in South Africa. He therefore discovered at Spielberg a completely new circuit for him in this category, but also in quite difficult weather conditions.

The braking marks were therefore complicated to find depending on the grip of the track. The second and third free practice sessions took place partially in the wet, which of course did not make the choice of tires easier. Binder finished free practice in 16th position, 0.812 behind leader Pol Espargaró and 0.394 behind tenth. fabio quartararo.

Florian Ferracci, one of Binder's mechanics – and himself a former international driver – experienced the free practice this way: “Brad, not having too many references on this circuit in MotoGP, left cautiously. We left all happy with the victory in Brno, and we quickly realized that it wasn't going to be easy. He needed a lot of laps in the dry, but we weren't too spoiled by the weather at that level. The second session was practically useless, because it was dry on three-quarters of the circuit. There were just two turns and a straight that were completely wet. We couldn't drive on slick tires – dangerous on this flooded part – while the rain tires destroyed too quickly on the dry part. It was a bit of a shame. »

“Then we saw that Brad was having some difficulties anyway, because not having all his bearings, he was making some mistakes, like straight ones. He couldn't quite make a complete turn. »

“We believe a lot in our driver. We know what he is capable of, he showed it to us both in Brno and in the past. So we have great confidence in him. »

“He was happy with the bike. The mistakes he made were caused by his learning the track. We were very confident in him for the race. »

During Q1, many thought Brad would move up in qualifying, even though he was pitted against Johann Zarco, Danilo Petrucci, Valentino Rossi, Cal Crutchlow and Aleix Espargaró. The South African finished Q1 in 7th place, therefore 17th on the starting grid. Brad remained stable in the ranking, with 16th place in free practice and 17th in qualifying.

To KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer, Saturday night : “Brad has never ridden a MotoGP machine at Spielberg. It wasn't easy for him to find the perfect braking cues. As a rookie, he still missed a few laps on this track; he could have used a dry FP2 on Friday. But Brad was already much better in FP4 than the rest of the weekend. Of course, the mixed conditions of two of the four free practice sessions did not work in his favor. »

Binder felt that “I didn't perform well in qualifying. On the first run, I didn't feel like I had a good lap. On the second try I made big mistakes and went off the track. After that I was able to improve my time a little, but the potential was much greater for this Sunday. »

Florian, was that your impression as well?

“We still had a little doubt, but we noticed that he had great confidence in himself. The impression that emanated from him was “tomorrow it will be the race, and tomorrow I will be there”. We know that he is a fighter. He is a driver who loves racing, and who likes to go, I wouldn't say into contact, because he is very clean in his driving, but into clean fighting. »

“When we then talked about it among ourselves, between mechanics, we said to ourselves “there might be a way to make it into the top 10, or even the top 8”. But it was hard to imagine anything better compared to a seventeenth place on the grid. »

Eighteenth at the end of the second lap of the race, so 26 laps from the checkered flag, Brad then moved up to twelfth position. Only Fabio Quartararo and Binder were running in 1'24! His teammate Pol Espargaró was second between Jack Miller and Andrea Dovizioso.

Video: Fastest Binder on the track:

Pol Espargaró took the lead with 21 laps remaining, with the KTMs of Miguel Oliveira fifth and Binder eleventh. Then an impressive clash involved Franco Morbidelli and Johann Zarco. We started again for 20 laps, with the positions on the grid according to the classification on the eighth lap, therefore with Brad ninth.

How did you experience the race? ?

“Starting from so far away, the start of the first part of the Grand Prix was not easy. Then very quickly he overtook quite a few drivers. I was at the panel and I didn't really see the images of the race because I was more looking at the gaps. I was impressed during the first part of the race because he was practically running the same times as the front runners, while having to overtake a lot of people. It was encouraging. »

“Subsequently, unfortunately, there was this clash and everything started again from scratch. As he had been on the pace of the leaders on the way back, we could hope to finish in seventh or eighth place. »

Video The fight between Valentino Rossi and Brad Binder:

How did you see things at the time of the second departure?

“He was in a much better position on the grid, with ninth place. We said to ourselves that given his pace during the first part of the race, we were already looking at a good result. We even thought he could get a fifth or sixth place. »

“There was then a good fight with many drivers, and when he started to get closer to fifth position, he was still on the pace of the first, but despite everything there was a gap of 3 seconds which was maintained . »

“We hoped he would manage the tires well at the end of the race, in order to stay in fifth place, which made us super happy. »

Pol Espargaró and Miguel Oliveira fell, and Binder moved to fifth (and 1st KTM) with 10 laps remaining. Álex Rins fell while taking the lead, and Brad became fourth, 3.5 behind leader Andrea Dovizioso.

Did you then think a podium was possible?

“Let’s say that a fourth place was already very good. Personally I wasn't thinking about the podium, except because of the possible fall of a driver in front, which you never want. I signed straight away for a fourth place. I just hoped that things went well with the tires and that at the end of the race they didn't lose grip. Knowing that he's a fighter, I thought he was really going to hang on to this fourth place. »

“Really, what happened at the end was that Valentino got on top of him for the last three laps. I really paneled him in relation to that, giving him a lot of space. »

Florian's secret : “I always keep a small margin additional. That is to say, if for example he arrives 1.5 ahead, I show him 1.2. Or if it has 1.2 I only give it 1.0. I always keep two or three tenths in my pocket. »

“I was teasing him about that, but when he went to the last lap and he was only 0.5, and I was really afraid that Valentino was going to attack him in the last lap. Besides, we talked about it together afterwards, and he saw his front wheel several times. He felt he was really close behind him and he did everything to keep his place. He even told me that if the other finished at 0.2 or 2.0, it made no difference. He wanted to finish in front and that was it. The gap didn't matter. There he was very happy because he had finished in front the “idol” of his youth. »

What was your overall assessment?

“Finishing fourth after starting seventeenth was unexpected for us. He once again showed his talent and our bike worked very well. It's a shame that he couldn't take part in Spielberg's preliminary tests, when only Pol could come. Following Covid-19, he was really stuck in South Africa. It therefore lacked driving in the dry. »

What are your plans for the next event, the Styrian Grand Prix?

“He had a lot of riding in the dry. Even with one race and two starts. If he manages to qualify well, that is to say in the first three rows, we will also be able to play for a place among the first five. »

“We saw that the KTMs were all competitive, both Pol's, Miguel's and Brad's, just like Lecuona who had a very good race (which few people noticed). We can hope for a good overall result from the KTMs. »

“Here there is always an unknown, and that is the weather. But Brad is so happy to ride that he jumps on his bike, dry or wet track. He's super motivated and I think we should do well together. »

Video: The Orange Army on the march last Friday:

Photos © Polarity Photo for KTM