Binder and Acosta face off in San Marino for KTM bragging rights

Brad Binder is confident that Red Bull KTM can build on their newfound form at the San Marino MotoGP this weekend.

Binder left Aragon last weekend with a solid haul of 17 points after finishing sixth and fourth in the sprint and main races respectively. His fourth place was his best main race finish in 10 outings.

His 2025 team-mate, Pedro Acosta, beat him to the podium last Sunday riding the same RC16 but in the colours of KTM’s GasGas satellite team. This broke a lengthy Ducati podium lockout which shows the Austrian outfit is making some strides as manufacturer.

Brad Binder ‘evolving’

“In general, I’m excited to be here. Even more so after in Aragon I felt that I was evolving and I managed to understand some things,” Binder was quoted by motorcyclesports.net this week.

“It’s good to be back at Misano. It’s a really cool track and place.

“Last year was pretty reasonable. I don’t remember where we finished exactly but on Sunday I fell. Until then everything was going well.”

ALSO READ: Brad Binder chuffed with fourth place after ‘tricky race’ in Aragon

Adjustments needed

The KTM man took the chequered flag in San Marino on his way to the 2016 Moto3 title, but he does not boast a great premier class record at the 4.23km layout. His best MotoGP finish at the venue is eighth.

“Here the big question is that we have a lot of grip and that pushes the front of the bike a lot,” Binder said.

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“We will certainly have to make some adjustments for this particular track, but we will try a balance similar to what we used in Aragon and see if it works.”

KTM bragging rights

While the top four riders, Jorge Martin (299), Pecco Bagnaia (276), Marc Marquez (229) and Enea Bastianini (228) are out of Binder’s sight in the title race, he does have a battle on his hands against Acosta. Binder (145) trails Acosta (148) by three points in the battle for fifth place and KTM bragging rights.

The sprint race starts at 3pm on Saturday and the main race at 2pm on Sunday.

ALSO READ: Brad Binder: Brilliant on a bike, but ‘useless’ at braaiing