Brad Binder says KTM on right track despite poor MotoGP result

Despite a disappointing haul of MotoGP world championship points for Red Bull KTM at the Grand Prix of the Americas, Brad Binder feels his team is on the right track.

Binder had to be content with only adding three points for finishing 13th for the five points he earned for finishing fifth in Saturday’s sprint race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) in Austin, Texas.

His team-mate Jack Miller crashed out on Sunday while running third, meaning he returns from COTA with the solitary one point he earned for finishing ninth in the sprint race.

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Sunday’s main race, which was marred with retirements, was won by Alex Rins, with Luca Marini and Fabio Quartararo completing the podium.

Binder, who started from 11th on the grid, was running in seventh place when he slid off the track on lap 10 out of 20. He managed to get back on his KTM RC16 and complete the race.

Brad Binder optimistic

“I struggled with the front tire up until a few laps before I crashed,” Binder told the KTM website.

“At that moment I was confident and was started to push. Then it just snapped away from me on one of the little left-handers. Luckily, I was able to remount and we still got three points.”

Binder, who does not have a great record at COTA, remains optimistic heading to the Spanish MotoGP at Jerez in two weeks’ time.

“The whole weekend here in Austin has been a lot more positive than we might have expected beforehand, based-off our experiences here in the last years. We are not walking away empty-handed,” says Binder.

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“For me it was also a lesson, especially from my mistake at the start. At Jerez we will go a hell-of-a-lot better.”

Jerez up next

After moving up to seventh in the world championship on Saturday, Binder dropped down to tenth after the main race. He is on 30 points, 34 behind leader Marco Bezzecchi.

Red Bull KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti agreed that his team can take positives from the weekend.

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“A tough Sunday. We cannot blame our riders today because many were on the limit with the front tires and we saw many crashes,” said Guidotti.

“We have some signs from this grand prix and that’s why we are looking forward to Jerez now.”

The sprint race in Jerez is on 29 April and the main race on 30 April.