Brad Binder takes seventh in KTM’s home race in Austria

The CryptoDATA Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich brought KTM onto home ground and to the immense Red Bull Ring facility in Spielberg where Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder was able to score 7th position in the newest outing for 2022 MotoGP.

Grand Prix #101 for KTM took place on Austrian asphalt as the Red Bull Ring echoed to MotoGP for the eighth time since 2016 and landed on the spectacular motorsport site for the thirteenth round of the season. After practice and qualification in cloudy but mainly dry conditions, the 28-lap race on Sunday afternoon occurred in a similar climate.

Brad had entered Q2 directly with his KTM RC16 machine and started the race from the fourth row (in 12th spot). The resolute South African, who memorably won the second GP event at the venue in 2021 in a dry/wet track state, charged to the edge of the top ten and then kept pursuing his rivals; harnessing the benefits of his hard tire choice in the later phases. He enjoyed a close spar with Aleix Espargaro for 6th and only lost out by three tenths of a second at the flag.

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing are 5th in the Teams championship standings while Brad is 7th in the riders’ world championship. MotoGP continues to the east coast of Italy in a fortnight and to the Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli in San Marino for the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini; the first of just two more European events before the series moves across the continents once more.

Brad Binder:
“I didn’t get a great start from 12th and the inside. I kept my head down and charged as hard as I could from the beginning until the end. I was really happy with everything was working and the bike was great but we were just missing a bit of competitiveness today. I had some front vibration in the last five laps and it almost ruined my race because I was afraid that something was going to happen so at the end of the day I’m grateful to make it home. We’ll keep working.”