Brad Binder: Seventh place as good as it was going to be

Brad Binder’s frustration continued at the Argentina MotoGP on Sunday as his Red Bull KTM again struggled to stay with the leading group despite a marked improvement from the season opener in Thailand.

Binder again carried the flag the flag for Austrian outfit to finish the main race at the Termas de Rio Hondo in a very credible seventh place after starting in 11th place. But the hard reality is that he crossed the finish line more 14 seconds behind race winner Marc Marquez’s winning pace.

Marquez recorded back-to-back doubles in Argentina, with his brother Alex Marquez second and Franco Morbidelli third to secure yet another Ducati lockout.

Brad Binder happy with solid points haul

Marc leads the MotoGP title race on a perfect 74 points, followed by Alex (58) and Pecco Bagnaia (43). Binder (19) is seventh in the championship with his team-mate Pedro Acosta 10th on 12 points.

“I’m happy because I gave absolutely everything I had from the first lap. Also happy to get some points after what happened yesterday,” Binder told the KTM website.

He crashed on the first lap of the sprint race on Saturday after making contact with Morbidelli.

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“I knew it would be tricky once we had our tire drop but I did my best and tried to make zero mistakes. Unfortunately, seventh was a good as it was going to be today,” Binder added.

“We are strong in braking and entry but we need to find more grip on the edge of the rear tire. Once we do that life will get much easier for us.”

Points all round for Mzansi

Earlier on Sunday, both Brad Binder’s younger brother Darryn Binder and Ruché Moodley finished in the points in Moto2 and Moto3 respectively.

After failing to score point in Thailand, Darryn Binder made the most of his eighth place on the grid. The Gresini Moto2 rider took the chequered flag in sixth to leapfrog into 12th place in the title race.

Moodley followed up his 11th place on debut in Thailand by earning a solitary point in 15th place. The 18-year-old BOE Motorsports rider is 15th in the title race on six points.

The next stop on the MotoGP calendar is in two weeks in Austin, Texas for the Grand Prix of the Americas.