Brad lines up twelfth on the #ThaiGP grid at Buriram

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The Chang International Circuit brought MotoGP to Thailand for the third time since 2018 and a hot qualification process on Saturday saw Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder secure 12th place on the starting grid.

The varied Chang International Circuit mixes a selection of fast straights, sweeping corners and technical sections within a 4.6km layout. The venue welcomed Grand Prix for the first time in three years as MotoGP returned to the Buriram area for the third edition of the Thai fixture.

The world championship arrived directly from Japan and into more unstable conditions with heavy rainfall battering the relatively new motorsport facility in the build-up to round 17. Fortunately, the first day of Free Practice occurred on a relatively dry track as the heat helped clear the damp tarmac.

Come Saturday and more fine weather and it was Brad Binder who surged to the front of KTM reckoning. The South African has been frustrated by yellow flags in his flying lap quest on Friday but cut through FP3 to make Q2. Brad hovered as high as 7th but then had an issue that kept him in the pitbox in the final minutes.

Moto3 gets underway at 07.00 CET with Moto2 at 08.20 and the red lights go out for MotoGP at 10.00

Brad Binder:

“Today was really, really good. I started off well this morning, was strong from the first exit and could be really consistent throughout the day, my pace was good and I’m happy with the way we were working. I put in the soft tire and went straight through to Q2. FP4 was great and I felt really confident with what I had beneath me. The only slip up of the day was in qualifying when we started with the medium rear tire to make sure we have a spare soft for tomorrow. I came in to use our allotted soft tire for the qualifying lap attempt and unfortunately I had to pull it over and couldn’t have a shot at it. That was a bit annoying but, anyway, it is what it is. It doesn’t take anything away from the fact that we have really good pace and I think I can do a good job tomorrow.”