Brad binder Moto GP? Brad Binder (born 11 August 1995) is a South African Grand Prix motorcycle racer. He is most-known for winning the 2016 Moto3 World Championship. In November 2019 he was confirmed as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider in MotoGP class for the 2020 season, replacing Johann Zarco who had abandoned his factory ride earlier during that year. Previously, he had competed in the Moto2 class during 2019, with the Ajo KTM team, finishing the championship in second place. Prior to moving up into Grand Prix level, Binder contested three seasons of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, with a best finish of fifth overall in the championship standings. At the 2016 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix in Jerez, Binder became the first South African to win a motorcycle Grand Prix since Jon Ekerold won the 350 cc class at the 1981 Italian motorcycle Grand Prix. From 2017, Binder raced in the Moto2 class having agreed to a deal with Ajo Motorsport. Binder’s younger brother Darryn is also a motorcycle racer, and competed alongside Binder in Moto3 in both 2015 and 2016. Binder became the first, and so far, the only South African to win a MotoGP championship race at the 2020 Czech Republic motorcycle Grand Prix, also becoming the first rider to win with KTM in the premier class, as well as being the first rookie to win in MotoGP since Marc Márquez at the 2013 Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas. Career Early career He began his motorsports career in go-karting in 2003. In 2005 he switched to two wheels, immediately winning several titles in the 50cc, 125cc and 150cc categories. In 2008 he made his international debut, competing in the Aprilia Superteens Series, a British competition. In his first race he finished in second place, but in the second race he crashed. In 2009 he raced in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup finishing 14th, in 2010 he finished 5th, and in 2011 he finished 7th. 125cc/Moto3 World Championship RW Racing GP (2011–2012) Binder started his Grand Prix career in the 125cc class riding an Aprilia for RW Racing GP in the 2011 season with his bike number as 14. Binder finished the season pointless, with his best position being a 17th place in Indianapolis. In 2012, he switched to the Kalex KTM with his bike number changed to 41. Binder’s first Moto3 point came at the 2012 Portuguese motorcycle Grand Prix. 2012 was a crash-filled season for Binder, with seven crashes. Binder scored four times in the season, with his best result of fourth place coming in Valencia. He finished the season at 21st place with 24 points. Abrogio Racing (2013–2014) In 2013 Binder switched from Kalex KTM to Suter Honda and later to Mahindra with the team Ambrogio Racing. 2013 was a consistent year for Binder; he scored in 14 out of the 18 races, his best result being a fourth place at Spain; he finished the final standings at 13th place with 66 points. In 2014, he improved with 2 podiums to 11th place. Red Bull KTM Ajo (2015–2016) In 2015 Binder again switched teams to the KTM factory-supported Ajo Motorsport. His first season on the new machine was largely positive with regular points finishes and 4 podiums leading to an overall 6th place finish. Binder in 2016 In the 2016 season, he built on this success with 7 wins and 14 podiums en route to his first world championship, with a 142 point margin over 2nd place. Moto2 World Championship Red Bull KTM Ajo (2017–2019) 2017[ In 2017, Binder moved up to the Moto2 class, continuing with Red Bull KTM Ajo. In his first season he achieved 3 podiums on the way to 8th place in the riders’ standings; despite having an injury and being forced to miss a few rounds. 2018 In 2018, Binder improved with 3 wins and consistent points finishes to achieve 3rd place in the championship. 2019 In 2019, after a difficult start to the season for KTM with the new Triumph engine, Binder took 5 wins and 9 podiums to finish in 2nd place as the best KTM rider, just 3 points off champion Álex Márquez. MotoGP World Championship Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (2020–present) 2020 Binder racing in 2020 Binder made his MotoGP debut with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team in the 2020 season. Binder won his first MotoGP race at the third round of the season in Brno. This was also the first race win for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team in the premier class. 2021 Binder, along with KTM, had a rough start to the 2021 season. Despite this, he maintained top ten positions and got into the top 5 four times, with two 5th places at Portimao and Mugello and two 4th place finishes at Sachsenring and Assen. Binder scored a surprise home track victory for KTM at the Austrian MotoGP Grand Prix when, with 5 laps remaining and rain beginning to fall, he decided to take the chance of finishing the race on slicks while most other leading riders chose to pit and swap to motorcycles fitted with wet tires. The gamble paid off and despite extremely slick conditions and mostly ineffective brakes due to the wet and cold track surface, he was able to withstand a late charge by Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia and win the race. 2022 Binder stayed with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team for a third consecutive season for the 2022 World Championship He started off the year with an overachieving 2nd place finish at the Qatar Grand Prix. From then on, Brad has been a consistent top 10 finisher, with a tendency to perform better in race trim than in qualifying trim, as has been the case with his teammate Miguel Oliveira. He attained his first ever top 3 qualifying result in MotoGP at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, which he followed up with his second podium finish of the season, in 2nd position. 2023 Binder signed a contract with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in June 2021, to remain with the team for the 2023 World Championship and 2024. He showed his class by winning the Sprint race in Argentina (2023) at the 2nd race of the season coming from 15th on the grid. On the weekend of the 2023 Austrian round, Binder extended his contract, which keeps him there until the end of 2026. Career statistics Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Pos Pts 2009 SPA1 13 SPA2 10 ITA Ret NED 16 GER Ret GBR 15 CZE1 11 CZE2 14 14th 17 2010 SPA1 4 SPA2 Ret ITA 3 NED1 7 NED2 7 GER1 2 GER2 2 CZE1 7 CZE2 4 RSM Ret 5th 109 2011 SPA1 2 SPA2 Ret POR1 1 POR2 17 GBR1 15 GBR2 Ret NED1 10 NED2 20 ITA 10 GER1 2 GER2 9 CZE1 12 CZE2 10 RSM Ret 7th 95 CEV Buckler Moto3 Championship Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Pos Pts 2012 Suter Honda JER NAV ARA CAT ALB1 ALB2 VAL 1 17th 25 Grand Prix motorcycle racing By season Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd WCh 2011 125cc Aprilia RW Racing GP 5 0 0 0 0 0 NC – Andalucía Banca Cívica 2012 Moto3 Kalex KTM RW Racing GP 17 0 0 0 0 24 21st – 2013 Moto3 Suter Honda Ambrogio Racing 11 0 0 0 0 46 13th – Mahindra 6 0 0 0 0 20 2014 Moto3 Mahindra Ambrogio Racing 18 0 2 0 1 109 11th – 2015 Moto3 KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo 18 0 4 0 3 159 6th – 2016 Moto3 KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo 18 7 14 6 3 319 1st 1 2017 Moto2 KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo 15 0 3 0 2 125 8th – 2018 Moto2 KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo 18 3 3 1 1 201 3rd – 2019 Moto2 KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo 19 5 9 0 0 259 2nd – 2020 MotoGP KTM Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 14 1 1 0 2 87 11th – 2021 MotoGP KTM Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 18 1 1 0 0 151 6th – 2022 MotoGP KTM Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 20 0 3 0 1 188 6th – 2023 MotoGP KTM Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 20 0 5 0 1 293 4th – Total 217 17 45 7 14 1981 1 By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp 125cc 2011 2011 Indianapolis 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moto3 2012–2016 2012 Qatar 2014 Japan 2016 Spain 88 7 20 6 7 677 1 Moto2 2017–2019 2017 Qatar 2017 Australia 2018 Germany 52 8 15 1 3 585 0 MotoGP 2020–present 2020 Spain 2020 Czech Republic 2020 Czech Republic 72 2 10 0 4 719 0 Total 2011–present 217 17 45 7 14 1981 1 Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Pts 2011 125cc Aprilia QAT SPA POR FRA CAT GBR NED ITA GER CZE INP 17 RSM ARA JPN 20 AUS 21 MAL Ret VAL Ret NC 0 2012 Moto3 Kalex KTM QAT Ret SPA Ret POR 11 FRA Ret CAT Ret GBR 17 NED 20 GER Ret ITA 24 INP Ret CZE 20 RSM 16 ARA 16 JPN Ret MAL 12 AUS 14 VAL 4 21st 24 2013 Moto3 Suter Honda QAT 12 AME 9 SPA 4 FRA 8 ITA 14 CAT 12 NED 15 GER 9 INP Ret CZE Ret GBR Ret 13th 66 Mahindra RSM 18 ARA 12 MAL 11 AUS 15 JPN 10 VAL 12 2014 Moto3 Mahindra QAT 15 AME Ret ARG 14 SPA Ret FRA 14 ITA 9 CAT 6 NED 9 GER 2 INP 9 CZE 6 GBR 15 RSM 6 ARA 8 JPN 3 AUS 15 MAL Ret VAL 9 11th 109 2015 Moto3 KTM QAT 10 AME 5 ARG 5 SPA 3 FRA Ret ITA 10 CAT 9 NED 7 GER 7 INP 8 CZE 3 GBR Ret RSM 5 ARA Ret JPN 17 AUS 3 MAL 2 VAL 4 6th 159 2016 Moto3 KTM QAT 2 ARG 3 AME 3 SPA 1 FRA 1 ITA 1 CAT 2 NED 12 GER 8 AUT 2 CZE Ret GBR 1 RSM 1 ARA 2 JPN 2 AUS 1 MAL 17 VAL 1 1st 319 2017 Moto2 KTM QAT 20 ARG 9 AME SPA FRA ITA 10 CAT 17 NED 13 GER 7 CZE 12 AUT 7 GBR 9 RSM 4 ARA 5 JPN Ret AUS 2 MAL 2 VAL 3 8th 125 2018 Moto2 KTM QAT 6 ARG Ret AME 6 SPA 6 FRA 9 ITA 6 CAT 6 NED 7 GER 1 CZE 6 AUT 6 GBR C RSM 8 ARA 1 THA 4 JPN 5 AUS 1 MAL 8 VAL Ret 3rd 201 2019 Moto2 KTM QAT 12 ARG 6 AME Ret SPA 5 FRA 4 ITA 15 CAT 11 NED 2 GER 2 CZE Ret AUT 1 GBR 3 RSM 6 ARA 1 THA 2 JPN 12 AUS 1 MAL 1 VAL 1 2nd 259 2020 MotoGP KTM SPA 13 ANC Ret CZE 1 AUT 4 STY 8 RSM 12 EMI Ret CAT 11 FRA 12 ARA 11 TER Ret EUR 7 VAL 5 POR Ret 11th 87 2021 MotoGP KTM QAT 14 DOH 8 POR 5 SPA Ret FRA 13 ITA 5 CAT 8 GER 4 NED 12 STY 4 AUT 1 GBR 6 ARA 7 RSM 9 AME 9 EMI 11 ALR 10 VAL 7 6th 151 2022 MotoGP KTM QAT 2 INA 8 ARG 6 AME 12 POR Ret SPA 10 FRA 8 ITA 7 CAT 8 GER 7 NED 5 GBR 11 AUT 7 RSM 8 ARA 4 JPN 2 THA 10 AUS 10 MAL 8 VAL 2 6th 188 2023 MotoGP KTM POR 6 ARG 171 AME 135 SPA 21 FRA 62 ITA 5 GER Ret6 NED 45 GBR 39 AUT 22 CAT Ret4 RSM 145 IND 44 JPN Ret2 INA 6 AUS 4 THA 32 MAL Ret5 QAT 57 VAL 32 4th 293