Brad Binder on Grosjean’s crash: ‘He was so lucky to have walked away’

Though he admits there is an inherent sense of danger involved, following another top-flight motor racing scare at the weekend, South African two-wheel star Brad Binder says he tries not to allow such fears to hinder him on the track.

The international motor racing community was stunned at the weekend after a near fatal crash reminded fans how close the participants are to the edge every time they compete.

French driver Romain Grosjean narrowly escaped a horror crash at the Bahrain Grand Prix after his Haas car was split in two and caught fire, with the impact reportedly measured at a force of 53G.

It was the latest incident in a sport which has involved more death and tragedy than its stakeholders might like to admit.

And super fast motorobikes are no less dangerous than super fast cars.

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South Africa’s MotoGP sensation Brad Binder has talked about the high-speed crash that occurred in Bahrain on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

In August, during the Austrian MotoGP race, Franco Morbidelli lost control approaching a bend and his bike sliced across the track between Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales, narrowly avoiding hitting both men at close to 320km/h.

Binder was right behind Johann Zarco when the Frenchman’s Ducati collided with Morbidelli’s Yamaha.

“It’s one of the realities of the sport. The faster we go, and the faster the cars and bikes are getting, the limit becomes so much smaller,” said Binder, who won his first MotoGP race at Brno this season.

“I was watching the Formula One and that was insane. He (Grosjean) was so lucky to have walked away and to be ok. That’s all you can hope for at the end of the day.”

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No stranger to crashes himself, Binder required surgery after breaking his left arm in multiple places during a practice session in Valencia in late 2016.

“You’re going to get injuries, and there are going to be crashes and what not, but nowadays the tracks are a lot safer and the (medical and safety) staff on hand are so good that it makes things a lot safer,” said the Red Bull KTM rider.

“But of course there’s always that element that things can go wrong, and it’s a reality that’s there, but you just try keep it as far down in your mind as possible, otherwise it definitely would make the job a lot harder.”

• Binder is back in South Africa and sat down for an interview with The Citizen‘s Wesley Botton on Monday morning. Catch more of that interview right here and in the print edition of The Citizen in the coming days.

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