From a bad day to a Brad day as Binder fights back at Le Mans: 'I had to keep my head down'

South African MotoGP star Brad Binder had an eventful time at the milestone MotoGP race in France on Sunday.

Starting in tenth place, the Red Bull KTM rider had his work cut out from the start of the race as a nudge from a fellow rider in Turn 4 knocked him to the edges of the Top 20.

Fortunately, Binder and teammate Jack Miller had good pace throughout the weekend, allowing them to extract maximum performance from the KTM RC16.

By the end of the race, Binder had recovered to sixth place, despite the incident on the opening lap and having to take a Long Lap penalty.

"I had a really good feeling for the race and had a fantastic start, but unfortunately, in Turn 4, someone hit the side of me, and I went from 6th-7th all the way back outside the top twenty. A tough one and then a tough fight to come through," Binder said.

"It was important to keep my head down then and bring the bike home."

The French Grand Prix around the Le Mans circuit was the 1000th in MotoGP history and was won by Ducati's Marco Bezzecchi.

A good day, nonetheless

While Binder stole the show with his epic recovery ride, Miller had a day of mixed fortunes. The Australian led the race in the opening stages, but declining grip levels on the soft tyre meant he could not hold onto it.

With three laps to go, he exited the race after riding onto the gravel on the exit of Turn 4.

"Obviously not the way we wanted to end things here," Miller said.

"I was fading a little bit but also preserving the left side of the tyre, and I knew I had a bit left at the end. I then used too much curb on the inside of Turn 4, and that was all she wrote."

Team manager Francesco Guidotti rued the missed opportunities but praised his riders for their effort.

"A positive weekend even if we