SA’s Binder credits “consistent grind” and “incredible bike” for first MotoGP win for Africa.

Brad Binder credited his “consistent grind” up through the ranks of competitive riding for Sunday’s (August 9) historic win. Binder, who rose through the ranks of competitive Moto racing after starting with the Red Bull Rookie’s Cup all the way through to MotoGP, was riding in only his third MotoGP race when he won the Czech Republic Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Masaryk circuit on Sunday. It was a first for Binder, for South Africa and for KTM.

Binder started the race in 7th place on the grid and with a 50-1 outsider’s chance at the bookies. But Binder said that after staying behind Fabio Quartararo for several laps, he felt strong enough to overtake and from that point on it was just about taking on one rider at a time. When asked at what point he thought he had a chance of winning the race, he said simply, “I didn’t”.

The last three laps were Binder’s most concerning as his lap times diminished and he worried about being caught. But he rode what he called “the cleanest three laps” in his career to end the race and claim South Africa’s first-ever MotoGP win.

Speaking to reporters after the race, Binder said his KTM ride “actually surprising me very often” as he rode a faultless race to take the win. In an interview made available on the MotoGP home page, Binder credited the support of Red Bull and KTM through his previous ascendancy in Moto2 and Moto3, “winning in all three classes” and said he hoped Sunday’s win was “the beginning of something great”.

Looking forward to next week’s race in Austria, the home track for both KTM and Red Bull, Binder said Austria was his favourite track but said he was just taking things “one race at a time”.