Brad Binder: Like someone put a blanket over your head!

While KTM team-mate Miguel Oliveira took his second wet MotoGP win of the season, at Buriram, Brad Binder found himself riding blind after being bumped down the order.
Race, 2022 Thailand MotoGP
Race, 2022 Thailand MotoGP

The lap two incident, which resulted in a long lap penalty for Aleix Espargaro, saw Binder pushed wide and drop from 10th to 15th.

That in turn put him in the thick of the pack, where visibility was almost non-existent due to the spray on the straights.

The South African spent the closing stages again battling with the Aprilia of Espargaro, snatching tenth place from the Spaniard on the final lap.

But it was far below Binder’s expectations.

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“Today I was really looking forward to the wet race,” he said. “I got off to quite an OK start, didn't get a great launch off the line, but managed to get past a few riders.

“But on lap 2, at the end of the straight going into Turn 3, someone [Espargaro] hit me on the inside.

“I went off track, and when I re-joined I was so far down in the pack that I couldn't see anything.

“Going down the straight it was like someone had a blanket over your head because of the amount of spray from all the bikes ahead.

“I had to keep rolling in the straights, because I could not see where the braking markers were!

Brad Binder, MotoGP race, Thailand MotoGP, 2 October
Brad Binder, MotoGP race, Thailand MotoGP, 2 October

“So not a great day. Luckily, we pulled back a few positions, and managed to finish in tenth place. But frustrating because I know I could have done a better job.

“But it is what it is, and next stop Phillip Island, so let's make it count there.”

Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM team manager said: “Brad was unlucky that Aleix put him out of the track because it was difficult to recover from there.”

Binder remains the top KTM rider in the world championship standings, in sixth, with Oliveira up to eighth.

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