KTM’s Brad Binder heads into the summer break in ninth position in the MotoGP riders’ standings. The South African collected 60 points from the opening 9 races with a best finish of fourth position at the German Grand Prix in early June.
At Sunday’s Assen GP in the Netherlands Binder began the race on the last row after a difficult qualifying session the day before. The 25-year-old showed great mettle to move through the field in the early stages to make up several positions.
Binder conceded he lacked speed in the early stages of the race, but as the race wore on his lap times improved. “At the end I could match my quickest time on the last lap. I’m glad I made an improvement, but I lost too much time early on,” he said.
“It was an up-and-down weekend and I got a bit lost but I gave ‘my all’ in the race. I was a bit disappointed with 12th but we’ll re-group and come back stronger in the next phase of the season,” the Potchefstroom-born rider said on his blog.
Yamaha scored a 1-2 victory as standings leader Fabio Quartararo finished ahead of Maverick Vinales and 2020 MotoGP champion Joan Mir. Quartararo leads French compatriot Johann Zarco by 34 points in the riders’ standings with three races remaining in the season.
The 2016 Moto3 champion, in only his second season in the premier class, is 25 points behind KTM teammate Miguel Oliveira. Nine races remain in the calendar, with a double-header at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria on the 8th and 15th of August before heading to Silverstone for the British GP on the 29th of August.
The season is scheduled to end in Valencia, Spain on the 14th of November.
