WATCH: Hard to choose between Brad Binder’s three MotoGP wins

Television commentators almost ran out of breath in showering Brad Binder with superlatives during his historic Argentina MotoGP sprint race win at the weekend.

Wooing motorcycling fans the world over is something the Red Bull KTM rider has perfected long before he even joined the premier class in 2020.

Binder thrilled us with his sublime talents in the Moto3 class before eventually romping to the 2016 title in emphatic fashion and then rose through the Moto2 ranks only to miss out on the world crown by a whisker in 2019.

His sprint race win in Argentina was his third win overall in the premier class, albeit the shortened events do not officially count as MotoGP race wins and also only carry half the points as on offer in the main races.

But regardless of it happening in a sprint or a main race, when Binder takes the chequered flag, he does it in memorable fashion. The Citizen Motoring looks at his three wins in MotoGP in chronological order. Good luck choosing one over the other!

Brad Binder gives masterclass

Few riders have managed to make the kind of statement Binder did at the Automotodrom Brno in 2020.

When Binder lined up seventh on the grid in only his third MotoGP race, few would have been so brave to bet on him crossing the line first. After all, he had only a 13th place and a DNF (did not finish) to show in his only two previous premier class outings.

He did not waste any time in working his way through the field. Once he overtook Franco Morbidelli for the lead with nine laps to go, he put the hammer down to give his much more experienced contemporaries a masterclass.

By the time he had taken the chequered flag, he had opened a gap of 5.266 seconds over runner-up Morbidelli, which is huge by MotoGP standards.

The three races he needed to record his first win was the least required number of races for a rider to win in his rookie season since six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez did it in two races back in 2013. Not the worst company to find yourself in.

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Slick ride in the rain

After waiting 22 races for his next win, Binder made sure the 2021 Austrian MotoGP went down in folklore too.

Late in the race the KTM man was lying in sixth place with an outside chance of a podium place his best-case scenario. But with four laps to go the race at the Red Bull Ring was turned on its head when the heavens opened.

All five frontrunners rushed into the pit lane to get on bikes fitted with grooved tyres designed for wet weather, but Binder was brave enough to weather the storm on his dry weather racing slicks. His KTM was sliding like crazy on the slippery track, but incredibly he managed to keep it upright and guide it home for the win.

Despite the time he lost for slowing down and the time made up by the chasing pack, Binder still finished 12.991 seconds ahead of second-placed Francesco Bagnaia.

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Watch the mad dash for glory

Sprint races on every MotoGP race weekend were introduced this year to make the sport an even bigger spectacle than it already was.

The sprint era kicked off with a fairly eventful race in Portugal, albeit nothing extraordinary as 2022 world champion Bagnaia took the win.

But then came Argentina and the bar was raised significantly in terms of sprint racing’s appeal. Starting from a lowly 15th on the grid, not much was expected of Binder when the lights went out on Saturday afternoon. But then again, isn’t that usually the time the South African puts up his best shows?

A brilliant start gave Binder the momentum to soar through the field and take the lead within the first three laps of the 12-lap race. The two Mooney VR46 Ducatis of Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini used their superior pace to stay in the hunt and opened up a big gap on the rest of the field, but Binder was hell-bent on taking the chequered flag. He held on by the tiniest or margins, pipping Bezzecchi by 0.072 seconds on the finish line.