Brad Binder started the MotoGP season impressively with a second-place finish at the Qatar Grand Prix. However, since then, he has only managed one more top-four finish, failing to return to the podium and struggling to compete for top positions.
The South African rider for Red Bull KTM currently sits seventh in the championship standings. In contrast, Pedro Acosta, riding for Red Bull GasGas Tech3/KTM, is fifth in his debut year, with two podium finishes and consistent speed – even in instances where he made mistakes, his potential to compete for top positions was evident.
Despite these challenges, KTM remains fully supportive and confident in Binder. Hubert Trunkenpolz, the director of KTM, emphasized this commitment in an interview with GPOne.com, highlighting Binder’s known capabilities: ‘Brad has been unlucky this year; many things have gone wrong for him. But we don’t abandon a rider in a situation like this. We know that Brad is extremely fast and can win in MotoGP. He has shown this time and again with us in all three classes’.
Trunkenpolz stressed that it is KTM’s responsibility to support Binder: ‘At the moment, some things are not going well for Brad from a technical standpoint, so we need to help him a bit with the bike. We went in a direction with his bike that improved traction, but it no longer gives him the feel on the limit that he needs to achieve the best results’.