SA's Brad Binder finishes a brilliant 2nd in Spain after leading for bulk of race

South Africa's Brad Binder secured second place in the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez on Sunday.

The Red Bull KTM MotoGP rider had the lead of the race on Lap 1, and maintained the position throughout, until defending champion Franco Bagnaia passed him on Lap 20/24.

Binder looked threatened by teammate Jack Miller in the race’s early stages, but a series of small mistakes impacted the Australian's race negatively, with him eventually settling for third place.

Binder had won the Sprint Race on Saturday, having qualified fourth for the race. It was hoped that the rider would seal his first win of the season, but Bagnaia had too much left in the bag for the KTM ace.

SO CLOSE to a #TissotSprint and race win ??What a weekend for @BradBinder_33 who gets second place today ??#SpanishGP ???? pic.twitter.com/BgEpOB2udt

Closing the gap

Still, Binder continued to keep the pressure on Bagnaia. Continuously closing the gap on the Ducati rider, Binder picked his moment when he launched an attack for the race's lead. And he did so on Lap 24.

With the gap between the two under 0.2 seconds, Binder was all over his rival's bike, launching attack after attack throughout the lap. The South African led until the final lap, but there was just too much pace in the Ducati.

The result sends Binder up to third on the championship standings, now on 62 points. Bagnaia is in front on 87 points, with Marco Bezzecchi on 65.

The race was restarted after Fabio Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira and pre-race championship leader Bezzecchi all crashed on the opening lap.