MotoGP Valencia: New chassis key to Binder’s comeback ride

Brad Binder showcased his Sunday skills once again at Valencia after recovering the Red Bull KTM MotoGP to second at the flag.

Lining up seventh and enjoying the first corner and opening lap skirmishes around him, Binder got his head down as the 2022 season finale got up to speed. The South African carefully picking off title challengers Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo before making advances on the leading trio of Alex Rins, Jorge Martin and Jack Miller across the 27-lap race.

“I’m extremely happy to be back on the podium come the end of the season,” Binder said after crossing the line just over three tenths shy of eventual winner Rins. “It’s the first year I haven’t taken a victory in quite a few seasons, so this weekend I came with the mindset that I have to win! It didn’t quite work out but congratulations to Alex and Jorge, they did an amazing job today.

“I need to say thank you to my team. I have the most amazing crew behind me, some crazy and incredible people at KTM. We’ve had some great times this season and some really hard times too but we’ve always managed to give our absolute best come the race day.

“It’s good to finish top six in the world championship, for sure,” he continued, on his late season progress. “We made a step this weekend, which was fantastic because I’d been requesting a little bit more drive grip all year and they brought it for this race. I really hope that for the 2023 season we can find that last little bit to try and be a little bit more competitive every weekend. But yeah, we fought hard today. I tried so hard to get through the guys, unfortunately early on it was so difficult to pass people with the full fuel tank, but as soon as I started to lose a bit of fuel, I could brake a bit