Brad Binder: “Nothing fun about it! It was sketchy… roll and see what happens”
KTM’s Binder finished third at Silverstone behind Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia.
He was asked about riding in wet conditions with slick tyres and even made Espargaro chuckle with his blunt description of a MotoGP rider’s mentality.
“There’s nothing fun about it! You’ve got to roll and see what happens,” he said.
“[Espargaro and Bagnaia] would disappear then come back again. How much risk are you willing to take? You don’t really know.
“[Sunday] was sketchy, hard to understand lap-by-lap.
“It was sketchy because the rain fell with seven laps to go. If it really started to rain, it would have paid off.
“It was whoever was willing to take the risk at the time. It was like a yo-yo - someone would go, then come back.
“It was hard to understand how hard to push, or how wet the track was.
“We were fortunate it was the last sector that was damp, other than that you could raid it.
“I really wanted to win after my mistakes at Assen, my team deserved it. But the two guys in front did a fantastic job.
“It’s not easy in these conditions. Especially if you’re first, you’re the guinea pig.
“I’m really happy with how everything’s going lately. Our bike is super-competitive.”
KTM even put the feelers out to ascertain whether Bagnaia breached track limits on a frantic final lap, after he had been overtaken by Espargaro, but when still led Binder.
The Stewards confirmed Bagnaia did not, meaning Binder’s third-place finish would not be amended to improve, but it still represented a strong outing for KTM, who also saw Jack Miller finish in eighth.
Binder’s race almost ended early amid contact with Jorge Martin.
Asked if he nearly crashed, Binder said: “It was close. I’m sorry to Jorge.
“I got sandwiched between two bikes, touched from both sides, in the middle of Jorge and Luca Marini.
“I’m glad we all got away from that one. I saw parts fly off my bike, I’m not sure what, but it was shaking so there was damage.”
Silverstone was a second podium of the 2023 season for Binder, heading into KTM’s home race at the Austrian MotoGP next up.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
