Biker Binder: I want to be fighting at the top

22 September 2017 - 11:38 By Kyle Cowan
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Brad Binder in the wet at Misano Cicuit in San Marino earlier this month. The South African held on in extremely tough conditions to clinch the best finish of his maiden Moto2 season - fifth overall.
Brad Binder in the wet at Misano Cicuit in San Marino earlier this month. The South African held on in extremely tough conditions to clinch the best finish of his maiden Moto2 season - fifth overall.
Image: Ajo Racing

The memory of clinching his first world championship will dominate South African racer Brad Binder’s weekend as he heads into the fourteenth round of the Moto2 season‚ at the same track where he clinched the Moto3 title last year.

Binder earlier this month rode a masterclass at the Misano Circuit de Marco Simoncelli in San Marino‚ which was declared a wet race – and wet it was – to finish fifth‚ his highest in his rookie year in the intermediate MotoGP class.

“In the rain‚ unfortunately‚ it’s always a bit of a gamble and I was lucky to finish the race. Conditions were horrible. To get a fifth position was great and‚ going into this weekend again‚ I am looking to get my best result so far in the dry.”

With confidence brimming‚ and memories of victory at MotorLand Aragon still fresh‚ Binder hopes to equal or better his performance this weekend.

“I’m quite excited to get back into the weekend. I have good memories here‚ with winning the championship last year‚” Binder said on Thursday.

“I had quite a good week building up to it and I am feeling quite confident and ready to get my best result of the year so far.”

Binder is humble‚ considering his consistent form this year‚ pushing himself into the top 10 consistently.

But he is not content and wants to be challenging for the podium.

“This year‚ in my eyes‚ has been far from being good. I definitely don’t want to be racing on the weekend‚ just cracking top ten. My goal is that I want to be fighting for podiums each weekend‚ but it’s difficult to do it‚ especially in your rookie year‚” Binder said.

Binder and Red Bull Ajo Racing teammate Miguel Oliveira both had successful tests at Valencia in the week‚ with the South African completing more than 100 laps before crashing.

Fortunately he was not injured.

“This year’s for learning … I am trying to take as much advantage of every single weekend as possible. Next year hopefully I will put it all together and fight closer to the front.”


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