Marco Bezzecchi
KTM Factory Racing are facing a potential fight for their future on the MotoGP grid in light of the brand’s financial problems but Brad Binder can also see further problems.
Doubts continue to linger over what presence KTM will have in the world championship due to the Austrian marquee entering self-administration. KTM currently play a major role in the entire Grand Prix paddock with representation in the MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 categories.
But KTM are in a financial crisis which threatens their presence in MotoGP through a factory team with riders Binder and Pedro Acosta plus satellite team Tech3 fielding Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini. KTM even supply eight of the teams in Moto3 with their RC250GP bike.
Brad Binder rues KTM creating ‘critical issues’ to improve their MotoGP bike
Problems also plagued KTM riders Binder and Jack Miller, before his move to Pramac, on the track throughout the 2024 MotoGP season as the Austrian manufacturer dropped to sixth in the teams’ championship. Their total of 304 points returned KTM’s worst season since 2021.
Binder also secured the KTM factory team’s only podium of the campaign with P2 in the first round of the year at the Grand Prix of Qatar. Acosta would get onto a Grand Prix podium five times during his rookie season with the satellite Tech3 team whilst running GASGAS colours.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Brad Binder from career stats to wife
So, if KTM are to bounce back in 2025, Binder is desperate for the team to improve the RC16 bike. He feels the factory team’s search for improvement came too late in 2024 and even left the squad on the back foot as adapting their package created further issues with their RC16.
“We must first understand the bike and only then can we start to improve the areas where we are lacking,” Binder told GPOne. “So, it is not necessarily a big step forward but some progress in braking, cornering and grip. This is the only way we can make a difference.
“For several reasons this year, we had to change the balance of the RC16 and this created critical issues because operating in the usual windows, we did not notice any difference.
“So, we had to take a more radical approach that took us time. It was only towards the end of the championship that we were able to find a bit more.”
Brad Binder needs KTM to fix the RC16’s issues after his worst year in MotoGP
Binder will be desperate for the works KTM MotoGP team to put the brand’s financial issues in the rear-view mirror and also bounce back in 2025 by adhering to his advice on where the RC16 must improve. The 29-year-old is a KTM man but had his worst MotoGP term in 2024.
The South African has only ridden on KTM bikes since he joined the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team in 2014, with whom he also graduated to Moto2 in 2017 before going straight into the factory KTM MotoGP team in 2020. KTM also have Binder under contract for the 2026 term.
READ MORE: Every MotoGP team’s confirmed 2025 rider line-up and contract details
But the issues KTM developed by trying to improve the RC16 in 2024 saw Binder fail to win a Grand Prix for the third term in succession, whilst also claiming his fewest podiums with one since taking one in 2021. Those aspects together make 2024 Binder’s worst year in MotoGP.
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