Brad finding his Asian groove at first-ever Indian MotoGP

The first-ever Indian Grand Prix will sit easily in the memory of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing and their growing legion of fans in the country as Krugersdorp’s Brad Binder helped put on a gripping and speed-fueled show at the Buddh International Circuit recently.

Brad finished fourth while teammate Jack Miller took points in 14th.

The KTM Factory Racing team revealed in its official newsletter that MotoGP™ scorched around the undulating 5km layout southeast of the city and in high temperatures as more fans gathered in the principal grandstand as well as the wide public areas. There was no danger of a repeat of the rainstorm that delayed the Saturday Sprint and gave the Grand Prix teams experience of Buddh in damp conditions but the climate was intense and humid for the race that was reduced to 21 laps.

The red light went out at 15:30 local time and Brad and Jack were aiming to replicate their excellent starts from Saturday that saw both rocket from 14th and 16th on the grid to the edge of the top five. On this occasion, it was Brad who leapt away through the extremely difficult and tight Turn 1. The South African suffered some contact but regrouped to charge forward. Brad diced with Joan Mir in the last two laps to make sure of his second top-four result of the weekend. Jack ran wide into Turn 1 and then again the second lap trying to recoup ground. He then focused on making gains and entered the points-scoring positions to take 14th.

After misfortune in Catalunya and Misano, Brad was able to replenish his world championship points tally and remains fourth in the standings. Jack holds 9th while Red Bull KTM Factory Racing is ranked fourth in the Teams list. The company is placed second among the Constructors. More eastern travel occurs immediately.

The boxed-up paddock will jet across to the Twin Ring Motegi for the Motul Grand Prix of Japan and round 14 of the series this weekend from September 29 to October 1 (race day).

“I gave absolutely everything I had. It wasn’t quite the result we were hoping for but coming back from 12th to 4th was quite decent. Two fourth places mean it has been a solid Indian GP for us. We worked as hard as we could to maximize what we had for today. The bike felt good but I think we were just struggling a bit more than we anticipated to get out of the slower corners. It is clear what we need to improve for the future and hopefully for Japan.”