Brad Binder is positive about the weekend at the Japanese MotoGP despite recording a DNF (did not finish) in Sunday’s race.
The South African finished an impressive second during Saturday’s sprint race behind Jorge Martin, and started Sunday’s wet main race in fifth place but had to switch to the wet-specification bike at the end of the opening lap along with his KTM teammate Jack Miller.
Binder was steadily making his way up the order but had a lockup with his front tyre which saw him crash out from 10th place on lap six.
It was the Potchefstroom native’s third DNF of the season after the German and Catalan MotoGP and is already looking ahead to the next race in Indonesia in a fortnight.
“Overall I think we had a positive weekend here in Japan. We were fast in all sessions and to bring home a podium in the Sprint yesterday was fantastic but unfortunately today it was tricky with the weather conditions and we came in after the first lap for the bike swap,” Binder told the KTM website.
“I started to feel good in the rain and with good pace but I had a small lock going into Turn 3 and that was it. Thank you to my team for their hard work. We’ll try and make up for it next time around.”
????️ Wasn't quite meant to be for @BradBinder_33.
A strong weekend for our Bru though. Things are looking bright! #KTM #ReadyToRace #JapaneseGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/WtJc59sq8b
— Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) October 1, 2023
Binder remains in fourth place in the championship standings and is now 64 points behind third-placed Marco Bezzecchi and 118 points behind leader Francesco Bagnaia.
