JOHANNESBURG - Brad Binder once again showed that he is a master of turning a difficult situation into something worth talking about at the German Grand Prix this past Sunday.
Starting 13th on the grid, the 25-year-old paced himself around the Sachsenring with impressive composure and maturity to claim a fourth-place finish - his best result of the 2021 MotoGP season. The Red Bull KTMs are now consistently leaping into race-winning positions, and they did it again with Binder's teammate Miguel Oliveira securing his third podium in as many races.
It seems then that all their hard work in testing this past month is paying off handsomely.
Binder can be pleased with his performance, even though he lost out on a podium finish by 1.2 second.
Said Binder of his race afterwards: “I’m really happy with fourth in the end because we started the Grand Prix by being stone-last in FP1!
"I slowly worked my way forward through the weekend," he continued. "It wasn’t easy for me to adapt to this place on the bigger bike. I gave it my absolute ‘all’ out there today. I tried as hard as I could. I wanted the podium - and I could see Fabio - but ran out of time to get close enough.
"In general, I’m happy with the job we did and the team worked fantastically because when I was struggling they continued to make the bike better and better and that brought my level up. We made a big step.
Oliveira, meanwhile, finished second, continuing his excellent form. He was unable to match the determination of Marc Marquez, however, as the eight-times world champion secured an emotional victory after recovering from a career-threatening injury.
The racing gods had decreed it so.
“It was a little bit cat-and-mouse (Sunday)," said Oliveira of his German GP.
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"Marc was faster in some sectors and I was faster in the last part of the track. Visually though, I felt like I was gaining nothing! It was an interesting race and we battled at a distance. I will take a second any day at the Sachsenring to him. I’m happy to continue this run of podiums. I hope we can carry on this way.”
Elsewhere, in the Moto3 category, Darryn Binder put in the hard miles to complete a splendid recovery race. The younger Binder was forced to take a drive-through penalty early in the race, which ruined his chances of fighting for a podium finish.
It dropped the 23-year-old into the back of the field, but he too kept his composure on the very last lap, finishing in 13th and claiming two important points.
Next up is the crown jewel of the MotoGP - the Dutch TT at Assen. The action start on Sunday with the Moto3 at 10.45am
* Quotes courtesy of Flume Digital Marketing and PR
@FreemanZAR
IOL Sport