Brad Binder: “It's been a year full of challenges” - Exclusive

“You would not expect to be [5th in the championship] if you look at how things have 💞ꦕgone”

Brad Binder
Brad Binder

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Brad Binder dazzled during the MotoGP season opener𒐪 in Qatar, but the following 19 rounds were somewhat💛 barren.

🔯A pair of close second places at Lusail suggested 2024 might be the long-awaited season for a Binder/KTM title challenge.

But the South African didn’t✅ reach 💛the rostrum again in the following 38 races.

Not only did the RC16 los♎e touch with the Ducatis but Binder endured a ‘record’ 19 accidents and some qualifying nightmares, including last on the grid at Le Mans.

Nonetheless, he dug in and still emerged with fif𒁏th in the world championship, just one place lower than last year and - again - was bꦏest of the non-Ducati riders.

However, he scored 76 fewer points than in 2023.

“Look, it's super clear we all expected more this season,” Binder said during an exclusive interview with mahbx.com.

“The reality of the situation is that we've been struggling a little bit more than ♓would have liked.

“No one's🍸 super happy where we are, that's for sure.

“But the entire team and people back at the factory are giving such a massive effort tꦏhat it brings me a lot of comfort.

“I’ve a really good feeling we're not going to be hereඣ for long.”

Binder, Martin, 2024 Qatar MotoGP
Binder, Martin, 2024 Qatar MotoGP

One of the puzzles of th𝐆e season is why Binder and KTM were so strong in Qatar, leaving the weekend between eventual title rivals Francesco Bagnaia and Jor✃ge Martin, then dropped away.

After scoring 29 out of 37 points in Lusa𓆏il, B🍎inder's next-best weekend saw him take 17 points at Aragon.

Part of the answer, Binder indicated, was that the Ducatis were held back by chatter from the revised Michelin rear tyre at Lusail. His RC16 seemed immuneಌ, but the situation was soon reversed.

“Well, to be honest, I realised in Qatar that during the race, I saw the guys around me had massive chatter and we had none!” sᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚaid Binder, who finished as the only KTM in an all-Ducati top seven at Lusail.

“So I think they were losing a bit of time th🦋ere for sure. I was able to catch up especially in two or three corners where they would be chattering a lot. So that helped us a lot there I’d say.

“And then after that it's clear that𝔍 somehow they made a small step forward.”

The double MotoGP race winner also emphasised that he hadn’t 🍌got the best out of him🐽self this year.

“There have been races where we've been really strong as well, but unfortunately I haven't put together a terrific year by any means either,” he said. ✅“I’ve fallen off a lot, had s🍷ome struggles, qualified last of all places in bloody Le Mans!

“It's been a year full of chall🎉enges but to see we’re fifth in the championship - you would not expect to be there if you look at how things have gone, the amount I’ve fallen off and all of that.

“🌌And it's not just us struggling, a lot of otꦍher people have had a more difficult season than they would have anticipated.”

Brad Binder, 2024 Japanese MotoGP
Brad Binder, 2024 Japanese MotoGP

Indeed, like the rest of Ducati’s rivals꧋, KTM never got fully on t꧟op of the revised rear tyre.

“We’re still working it out, to be honest,” Binder said. “We’ve found some things tha🃏t seem to be working a bit better. 

"But the big thing at🔴 the minute is just trying to understand exactly what we need to go faster.”

Part of🔯 that process involved using the closing rounds to gather data f🍷or 2025.

“We're going to try a little bit different dﷺownforce and see if we can find anything that touches our problems,” he said on the eve of the Sepang round.

One problem highlighted b♌y Binder has been a lack of ‘roll speed’ in the corners.

“Yeah, for me we’rꦛe definitely losing a little bit more than🐭 we have in the past in the mid-corner roll speed,” he confirmed.

“So that's one thing we need to ღwork on. But things are very complex - it's not so simple as just 🧔saying, ‘OK, that's our problem, do this and it's fixed!’”

Binder, who was sixt🦋h fastest at the Barcelona post-race test, will be back on the 2025 KTM prototype at Sepang in February.

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