Brad Binder is fourth in the MotoGP title race. Picture: Getty Images
There have been so many subplots unfolding in MotoGP over the last week that Brad Binder goes into the Indonesia Grand Prix completely under the radar.
The Red Bull KTM rider is fourth in the world championship with six Grands Prix left in the season. He will be keen to further showcase the improved RC16 carbon chassis at the 4.2 km Mandalika International Circuit this weekend.
Binder used the chassis for the first time at the Japan MotoGP. It made such an impact that he broke the Motegi lap record and came second in the sprint race before crashing out in the rain during a chaotic main race.
There was so much happening off the track this week that Binder wasn’t even invited to the pre-race press conference where he has been an institution of late.
Most of the attention centered around eight-time world champion Marc Marquez moving to Gresini Racing next year. There he will ride a Ducati alongside his brother Alex Marquez.
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The celebrated Spaniard joined Honda in his first season in MotoGP in 2013 and won the premier class six times in his first seven years. But he has had his fair share of troubles and injuries over the last four years.
After speculation that he might even retire, he decided to move to a more competitive team.
The rest of the grid will be very anxious to see what he is capable of on a Ducati, the sport’s dominant force of late.
There was also plenty of focus on Marco Bezzecchi this week. He was declared fit to race in Indonesia after undergoing collarbone surgery last weekend. The Italian suffered a fracture during training and went under the knife shortly thereafter.
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Bezzecchi (265) is 54 points behind Jorge Martin (316). Martin’s battle with Francesco Bagnaia (319) has been the talk of the town. Binder (201) is 64 points adrift of Bezzecchi in fourth, and 30 points ahead of Johann Zarco (171) in fifth.
Martin has been on an incredible run ever since Bagnaia’s horrific crash at last month’s Catalan MotoGP. The Spaniard has wiped out a huge deficit in the title race and is likely to overtake the world champion in Indonesia.
In Moto2, Brad Binder’s younger brother Darryn will be keen to keep his good run going at Mandalika. Since returning from injury, the Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP rider has twice finished in the points.
The Indonesia MotoGP sprint race takes place at 9am on Saturday, with the main race starting at 9am on Sunday.
The Moto2 race takes place at 7:15am on Sunday.
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