Brad Binder says he was “super happy” to fight for a rostrum finish in the Portuguese Grand Prix after qualifying 15th, adding KTM are “getting there” after a tough start to the year.
Binder found himself eighth after making a lightning start from his fifth row starting spot before making further progress during the 25-lap sprint to establish himself firmly within the battle for the podium, the South African taking the chequered flag less than two seconds behind runner-up Francesco Baganaia.
The one-time premier class winner said he was “satisfied” with his performance after struggling in qualifying, though conceded it was a “pity” he couldn’t translate his Sunday speed into one lap pace as it would “make life a whole lot easier.”
“It’s a pity I can’t find my Sunday form on Friday that would make life a whole lot easier,” explained Binder.
“Today was good as we had a great start from 15th to eighth in the first corner, I tried hard to stay with the lead guys at the beginning but it was really difficult so just tried to settle down into my own rhythm and make the best of it.
“I was super happy to stay almost with the podium group and in the last few laps I was able to catch up a little bit and was getting a little excited thinking I was in with a shot but couldn’t quite close the gap.
“Despite that I’m satisfied with the race, it was much better than we expected after qualifying so hats off to the team who are working hard, it’s a difficult period for us at the moment but we’re getting there.”
Binder added that he reckoned KTM had made progress since a tough pair of outings in Qatar for the Austrian manufacturer’s RC16 machine- Binder’s eighth in the Doha GP its best over the opening two rounds-explaining his ability to utilise a “strong rhythm” was the bike’s strong suit, though he rued the difficulty of making “the step up in pace when we need it” in qualifying.
“I think we’ve made a little bit of progress for sure, it’s really tough trying to push and do a good lap in qualifying as we’re missing that bit of support we need when we push hard, for example on 18 lap old tyres in the race I only went 0.1s slower than I went in qualifying,” continued Binder.
“The good thing is that we can keep a strong rhythm, but it’s difficult to make the step up in pace when we need to but we’ll keep working and I’m sure we’ll get it right.
“I have some unfinished business in Jerez as last year I was quite strong and the first race I ran off track and the second I ended up crashing so I’d really like to have a strong finish there and keep building our momentum.”
