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

Brad Binder dazzled during the MotoGP season opener 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 lose 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 fifth in the world championship, just one place lower than last year and - again - was best 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 Crash.net.

“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 that it brings me a lot of comfort.

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

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

After scoring 29 out of 37 points in Lusail, Binder'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 immune, 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!” said 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 there 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 that somehow they made a small step forward.”

The double MotoGP race winner also emphasised that he hadn’t got the best out of himself 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 some struggles, qualified last of all places in bloody Le Mans!

“It's been a year full of challenges 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 other people have had a more difficult season than they would have anticipated.”

Indeed, like the rest of Ducati’s rivals, KTM never got fully on top of the revised rear tyre.

“We’re still working it out, to be honest,” Binder said. “We’ve found some things that 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 for 2025.

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

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

“Yeah, for me we’re 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 work 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 sixth fastest at the Barcelona post-race test, will be back on the 2025 KTM prototype at Sepang in February.