Finishing 11th in the MotoGP Sprint at Jerez, Brad Binder acknowledged that while his pace was “not disgusting,” he nonetheless felt he was “just too slow.” The South African rider hasn’t secured points in a Sprint since achieving eighth place in Thailand, and during Saturday’s 12-lap race, he finished a disappointing 13 seconds behind the winner, trailing fellow KTM riders Maverick Vinales in seventh and Pedro Acosta in tenth.
As a former Moto3 World Champion and the 2022 winner of the Jerez Sprint, Binder’s expectations were high. “I expected quite a lot more from the Sprint today,” he expressed to MotoGP.com following the race. “I felt like the conditions were quite a bit more tricky than especially what we had this morning; it was a lot more greasy out on-track and it made it a lot more tricky, for sure.”
Reflecting on his performance, Binder noted, “I tried my best to manage all the situations out on-track, but it was really tricky.” He pointed out that while he maintained a consistent pace, it simply wasn’t fast enough. “I felt like the pace wasn’t disgusting, I was quite consistent, but just too slow. So, we’ve definitely got to find a little bit of extra pace and let’s see what we can do before tomorrow.”
Binder’s teammate, Pedro Acosta, who also faced difficulties, finished just 0.6 seconds ahead of him. Having reverted to the 2024 specification RC16 for the weekend, Acosta struggled after crashing in FP2 and being the slowest of the 12 riders in Q2, finishing in tenth place in the Sprint. “It’s not easy when things don’t go how you expected or how you plan,” Acosta remarked. “The way is to keep pushing, keep continuing to work and this will pull us up.”
As Binder and Acosta navigate the challenges presented by fluctuating conditions, their focus will need to shift to improving their performance in the upcoming races. The significance of Binder’s Sprint performance lies not only in the disappointment surrounding his current form but also in the pressing need to identify strategies that could enhance competitiveness in future events. With the season progressing, the urgency to regain momentum becomes increasingly clear, leaving fans hopeful yet anxious about what lies ahead for Brad Binder in the MotoGP series.
