Marco Bezzecchi
Brad Binder suffered his worst race of the 2025 MotoGP campaign during the Grand Prix of Qatar sprint and couldn’t find any pace whatsoever.
The KTM rider finished 14th on track and was the slowest of any of the Austrian manufacturer’s riders on Saturday.
Binder has been a terrific leader and a dependable rider for so much of the last two years. However, his team’s performance may be starting to get frustrating.
The Grand Prix of Qatar has been a realisation of KTM’s problems. They have to find solutions soon or risk losing their riders in the future, including superstar Pedro Acosta.
KTM may have a ‘massive problem’ for 2025 and three races into the season, their pre-season fears may have been confirmed.
KTM may be ‘nervous’ about fixing a fault with stability, which appears to be a theme across all riders. They need upgrades to address their woes soon.
READ MORE: Herve Poncharal explains why Pedro Acosta is already better than Brad Binder at KTM
Brad Binder admits he was ‘lucky’ not to crash at the Grand Prix of Qatar
A gutting Grand Prix of Americas retirement stripped Binder of a top-six finish late in the race, as he suffered a mechanical failure.
His pace had been impressive in mixed conditions, but fast-forward two weeks to Qatar, and he appears to be struggling more than ever on KTM’s bike.
“When the tyre started to degrade, I tried to maintain my cornering speed, but then I had to deal with a lot of chatter. I lost the front end a lot and went off the track a few times,” he told Speedweek.
“I was lucky I didn’t crash. It was very difficult. Choosing the soft rear tyre was clearly the wrong decision. We lack rear grip, so we all chose the soft rear tyre.
“For the first three laps, I still thought we made the right decision. But by the fourth lap, all the guys were on the medium tyre around me.”
Why KTM’s 2025 campaign has been disastrous so far
Three weekends into the 2025 campaign and KTM have no riders inside the top 10 of the championship standings.
Binder is 11th, and could be have been higher without his COTA retirement, while his teammate Acosta has suffered two falls as a result of pushing to make up for his bike’s deficit.
Without upgrades, the team are going to be risking injury to their riders and dropping back as far as being the fifth-fastest team.
They do not want to be the slowest on the grid heading into 2026, which may be their final MotoGP season.
Failing to find improvement could put the whole operation at risk, and produce a very drab end for what was once a promising team.
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