Brad closes #IndonesianGP weekend with eleventh place finish

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The fifth Indonesian Grand Prix to take place at the Mandalika International Circuit since 2022 brought MotoGP into draining tropical race conditions. The 4.3km trajectory formed from 17 fast corners and kinks was punishing for tire wear but also energy and stamina of the riders. Pedro Acosta, Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder and Maverick Viñales started the 27-lap contest from 9-14-16 and 18 on the grid.

Brad made decent progress to gain ground and hover on the fringe of the top ten with Enea for company. The pair then swapped places and flew in formation to the flag for P10 and P11 while Maverick, in his second Grand Prix run in the space of a week, was further back in P17 but gaining more feeling, strength and confidence in his left shoulder rehab.

After back-to-back GPs in Japan and Indonesia, MotoGP pauses for a week before another frantic spell. The Grand Prix of Australia at Phillip Island will occur on October 23-25 and is followed by the visit to Sepang (Malaysia) a week later and then the Qatar Grand Prix slated for the final part of a triple header.

Sunday quote after the main race

Brad Binder
11th in the Race and 13th in the championship:

“Way too long and hot of a race to finish 11th! I gave everything I had and we’ve been heavy on the edge of the tire all weekend, so from eight laps in it was tricky until the end. Anyway, I enjoyed riding and I enjoyed the track. We made a step from yesterday and went faster. The bike wasn’t bad at all, I was just missing some speed. The guys did a great job and I had more feeling with the front. We’ll prepare for the next one in Australia; Phillip Island is my favorite track so I’m looking forward to see how we manage.”

Saturday quote after the Sprint race

Brad Binder
16th in qualification, 16th in the Sprint:

“I had a great start and got past a lot of dudes to be somewhere around 10th but I lost in the rear in the second-to-last corner and ended up going off and re-joining at the back with three laps to go. So, a bit of a frustrating day for sure. We have quite a bit of work to do on the bike for tomorrow but a top ten should be do-able and hopefully more so let’s see.”