Brad Binder explains start issue amid KTM reliability nightmare at Catalunya MotoGP

Brad Binder says a clutch issue forced him off the grid at the start of the twice-red-flagged MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix, as KTM endured a reliability nightmare.

The South African was due to launch from eighth on the grid, but had to come into pitlane seconds before lights out to grab his spare bike.

He later explained that his clutch had burnt out during the sighting lap, which meant he couldn’t shift gears and could stop his RC16.

Running at the back of the pack at the first red flag, Brad Binder ultimately finished ninth on the road, but was promoted to seventh by post-race penalties.

“Well, I did my sighting lap, and when I arrived to the grid I went to shift down gears and unfortunately my clutch had burnt,” he said.

“So, I had no clutch going into my grid slot. I couldn’t put the bike in neutral and I couldn’t stop.

“So, luckily, the guys from IRTA (International Race Teams’ Association) were quick with the gate so I could cut right.

“After that, came in, grabbed my spare bike and went out again.

“However, I was 20-whatever seconds behind last place. All was quite ok.

“After that, came in again. Unfortunately, that crash was insane, looked crazy when I got there.

“So, I’m glad to hear the guys are going to be ok.

“But after that, had the restart, got an insane start; got from 20th into like seventh or eighth place.

“And then obviously red flag. So, started again.

“Got an ok start again and managed to finish the race in ninth. So, chaos weekend. Considering I qualified eighth and I started in 20th twice.”

Binder’s issue came as KTM suffered a reliability nightmare across the Catalan Grand Prix weekend.

Maverick Vinales was forced out of the sprint due to an issue, while Enea Bastianini’s grand prix was ended early when his bike lost power two laps before the first red flag.

Pedro Acosta’s KTM encountered an electrical issue, which led to a loss of power and triggered the violent incident involving Alex Marquez, which brought out the first red flag.

Hope for Binder amid an uncertain future?

Seventh matched Binder’s best result of a difficult season so far, as he faces an uncertain future in MotoGP.

His place within the factory KTM squad looks to have disappeared, with Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio poised for a move.

At present, Binder’s name is not featuring highly on the rider market.

But he is taking positives from the Barcelona weekend, having shown good speed throughout.

“A bit chaotic, but going forward, hopefully we can keep the positives from this weekend because in certain areas of the weekend I had really good pace and speed,” he added.

“So, also I had a really fast lap time in the race.

“So, I feel like we’ve made good inroads, and we just need to put everything together now.”