Brad Binder was ecstatic following his and KTM’s shock debut MotoGP victory in the Czech GP at Brno, labelling the result as “insane.”
Binder made a strong start from seventh on the grid to establish himself solidly in the top five early on before quickly making moves on team-mate Pol Espargaro and pole-man Johann Zarco to move into the podium positions.
He would go on to split the Petronas SRT Yamaha’s by snatching second from Fabio Quartararo just prior to mid-distance, before swiftly catching and then claiming the lead from Franco Morbidelli just a few tours later.
The South African then eased away from the field across the rest of the contest, taking the chequered flag 5.1 seconds ahead of Morbidelli after 21 circulations of the 5.4km circuit- becoming the first ever South African to win a premier class race in the process.
“It’s insane. Honestly unbelievable I can’t believe I won my first grand prix today,” said a shocked Binder following the Czech GP.
“It’s insane, the best part of all this is that it’s something you’ve dreamed about your whole life, and when I crossed that line it was everything I expected and more.
“It’s something I can’t explain it was an amazing feeling, my bike was fantastic and everything just worked great today.
“I need to say a huge thank you to my team for putting an unbelievable machine underneath me, the guys within my team for teaching me how to ride this bike properly over a race distance.
“What they told me to do worked out perfectly so hats off to them.”
Binder remained coy on his chances for further success at KTM’s home Austrian GP next weekend, a venue the squad has had solid results at in the past-test rider Mika Kallio scoring a top ten in back in ’17.
Binder pointed to his early problems at both Jerez events as reason to keep his feet on the ground heading to the Red Bull Ring, but conceded his RC16 package is “incredible.”
“I don’t want to get carried away, today is a fantastic day but we’ve got to remember I’m a rookie and the last two races before this I was 13th so let’s keep that in mind and just stay focussed for the next couple weeks.
“It’s unbelievable, I think I arrived at KTM at just the right time, the package is incredible and it’s insane to not just be on the podium today but the top step, it’s something I’ve always dreamt about and today it came true.”
Binder’s win in only his third premier class backs up the strong speed he showed in the opening two GP’s of the season at Jerez, the ’16 Moto3 world champion displaying speed comparable to the Spanish and Andalucian event winner Fabio Quartararo despite only scoring a pair of 13ths after running into problems.
He ran wide through the gravel in the Spanish GP-dropping to last and recovering to score four points-while he fell out of contention for a strong result in the Andalucian encounter following a clash with Tech 3 KTM racer Miguel Oliveira at the start.
Binder’s Czech success also moves him into fifth in the rider’s championship standings, just three points behind Andrea Dovizioso and Morbidelli ahead.
KTM’s previous best MotoGP result was a third place at the ’18 Valencia finale, Pol Espargaro shining in the rain-hit encounter to secure his and the marque’s debut rostrum appearance.
