Binder: I wanted to dig deep before sitting on the couch

Despite breaking his arm a day before his second race in Moto2, Brad Binder rides to a heroic finish in Argentina.
Binder: I wanted to dig deep before sitting on the couch

On the face of it, Brad Binder's second race in the Moto2 class was worthy of praise. A ninth place finish, 25 seconds back of the race winner and aboard a chassis still very much in its infancy, represented a fine showing for the rookie.

But speaking to South Africa's first grand prix world champion since 1980 after the race, and it soon becomes clear that Binder's feat was truly remarkable, as he rode through tremendous pain to better his previous best result in the class by eleven places.

Repeated complications with the left arm he broke in a testing accident in November left Binder in considerable pain coming to Argentina. A jolt on the Saturday tweaked the limb, and an x-ray on Sunday morning confirmed the bone had broken once again.

Not to be deterred, Binder insisted on racing. "I didn't give them much of an opportunity to tell me that I couldn't," he told Crash.net of his team's concerns after the medical check-up revealed the damage.

"This morning when we had the little meeting, I just said, 'Thank you very much. I'm going to get ready for warm-up!' I think that pretty much made them understand that I would be OK.

"When I heard I was going to sit on the couch for a bit, it was a bit of a wake up call again I think. I just decided, 'OK, it doesn't matter if I go and I throw the thing down on the first lap or I make it to the end. If I'm fighting for 20th I might as well crash.'"

Binder has since gone under the knife to correct the arm issue and will miss this weekend's encounter in Austin, Texas, as well as the Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez in two week's time.

Crash.net spoke with the reigning Moto3 world champion after the encounter in Argentina, during which the extent of his achievements in finishing the race became clear.

Crash.net:
How was the race?

Brad Binder:
It felt good. The bike felt incredible. The guys did such an amazing job getting the bike the way it is. It felt amazing but I'm really disappointed because this morning I took an x-ray. I felt a lot of pain. The plates moved and the bone is broken again in my arm. I need to get another operation. I think on Wednesday I'm going to have another operation and get my arm fixed again for the third f**king time already. Then I don't know. I'll give it six weeks and I hope to come back strong.

Crash.net:
So this originally came from a complication with the first operation you had?

Brad Binder:
Yeah, unfortunately the first time around it was quite a bad break. The doctors put it into position. Unfortunately it didn't grow too great. It didn't grow at all actually. So I had to get it re-plated and I had to get a bone graft to put the bone together. Everything was looking perfect. But I had a lot of pain, which is apparently not normal for such a long time after the operation.

Then yesterday in qualifying I had a little bit of a tank slapper and I felt a sharp pain in my arm. I wasn't sure what it was. I just carried on riding. This morning I woke up and it was really, really swollen and there was a lot of pain. So I asked Thomas from my team to take me to the medical centre and I got an x-ray and it turns out I broke my arm again. So it's not good but there's nothing I can do about it now. I'll try and get it fixed and then come back.

Crash.net:
So it's clear that it is better to get the operation out of the way now rather than soldiering on?

Brad Binder:
You know, now I'm dead. My arm is destroyed. I could barely pull in the clutch with five laps to go. I started to feel sick at the end of the race because it was just such a sharp pain. At the end of the day, I really wanted to dig deep before sitting on the couch for another month and a half. So, it's a good way to go out and I hope to carry some of this confidence through to when I come back.

Crash.net:
Surely there were some doubts about you racing here?

Brad Binder:
Yeah, I didn't give them much of an opportunity to tell me that I couldn't! This morning when we had the little meeting, I just said, 'Thank you very much. I'm going to get ready for warm-up!' I think that pretty much made them understand that I would be OK. So we were right.

Crash.net:
And you were able to get stronger through the race?

Brad Binder:
I felt a lot stronger than my result today, actually. Well, from what I saw in the group. I'm really strong in the braking zone, which is nice to see, because that was my strength in Moto3 as well. It was easy for me to pass the riders. And today the problem was I couldn't change direction. I had absolutely no power left. At the end of the day I'm stoked to get ninth position, a top ten in my second race in Moto2. Last weekend I finished 20th, 40 seconds behind. I stood absolutely no chance. To come ninth today is like a bit of a moral boost I suppose.

Crash.net:
What was difference between here and Qatar?

Brad Binder:
I was terrible all weekend again. This morning when I heard I was going to sit on the couch for a bit, it was a bit of a wake up call again I think. I just decided, 'OK, it doesn't matter if I go and I throw the thing down on the first lap or I make it to the end. If I'm fighting for 20th I might as well crash.' So I decided to make it count and finishing in ninth is a really strong finish for me.

Crash.net:
With you in ninth and Miguel finishing second, this KTM/WP chassis appears to already be incredibly strong.

Brad Binder:
You know, the bike is great. The team is great. I'm so lucky to have such experience, and all these amazing guys around me. I hope the guy that replaces me for a couple of races looks after my bike because I'm enjoying it right now. KTM and Aki have put together an incredible team and an amazing bike. I think there is a lot more to come.

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