Binder satisfied with sixth in second year of MotoGP

Brad Binder’s MotoGP stock continued to rise on Sunday by finishing seventh in the season’s finale in Valencia to finish sixth in the world championship.

The Red Bull KTM factory rider finished on 151 points in the title race behind champion Fabio Quartararo (278), Francesco Bagnaia (252), Juan Mir (208), Jack Miller (181) and Johann Zarco (173).

His sixth place is a five-place improvement on his first season in the premier class in 2020, when he finished 11th to be crowned the season’s best rookie.

Like in his first MotoGP season, Binder also recorded one win in 2021. His win came in Austria and was one of 13 top 10 finishes this year. Binder’s teammate, Miguel Oliviera, has a less successful season, finishing in 14th place on 94 points.

“I’m happy with where we finished in the championship. It has been my most consistent year and a level-up,” said Binder.

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“I have to thank the team. Even though we had some tough times they never stopped working. Sixth in the championship is good and now five to go.”

Mike Leitner, Red Bull KTM Race Manager, was full of praise for Binder after the final race.

“Today Brad made a great race in a competitive field and took seventh and then sixth in the championship. We’re proud of that because this was our first year without concessions and he did it through a long and tricky season” said Leitner.

Brad’s younger brother Darryn failed to score points in the last two races of the season to finish seventh in the Moto3 championship on 136 points. It was the Petronas Sprinta Racing rider’s best showing in seven Moto3 seasons. Darryn will compete alongside Brad in MotoGP for Yamaha satellite team RNF next year.

The provisional MotoGP 2022 season features 21 races and will start in Qatar on 6 March.