Brad Binder’s biggest problem at KTM is obvious as he lags behind MotoGP rookies in vital area

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Brad Binder has cut a dejected figure at times during the 2025 season. But his points tally would look considerably better were it not for one glaring weakness.

After last weekend’s San Marino Grand Prix, where he finished 10th, Binder sits 11th in the championship. That ranks him above Tech3 duo Enea Bastianini and Maverick Vinales, though they have both missed races.

Aprilia boss Massimo Rivola says Pedro Acosta is by far KTM’s standout rider. Acosta, fifth in the championship, is responsible for four of the manufacturer’s six podiums.

Binder narrowly beat a rookie Acosta last year, but the South African hasn’t been able to live with his second-season step. He’s clearly raised the bar for every rider in their roster.

Brad Binder has the second-most retirements on the 2025 MotoGP grid

But Binder’s biggest problem isn’t Acosta – it’s retirements. He has failed to finish nine out of 32 races this season, almost 30%.

Not all of these DNFs have been his fault. The chain failure that ended his Misano Sprint, and Acosta’s Grand Prix, was well-publicised.

But he also felt a terminal technical issue cost him a top-five finish at the Americas GP at the start of the year. There have been incidents with other riders, too – Franco Morbidelli in the Argentina Sprint, and Enea Bastianini in Mugello.

Binder has also made unforced errors, though. He crashed in both races at Le Mans, as well as the Aragon and Catalan Grands Prix. As the table above shows, only Honda’s Joan Mir has notched more retirements.

And strikingly, Binder has retired from more races than this year’s three rookies – Fermin Aldeguer, Ai Ogura and Somkiat Chantra – combined (eight).

Brad Binder finally has some hope at KTM

This isn’t like Binder. He only failed to finish one Sunday race last season, and it was the same in 2021 and 2022 – even as a rookie he only logged four retirements.

Just before the summer break, when asked to describe his year in three words, Binder said he was finding it ‘challenging, frustrating’ and ‘hard’. He knows that he’ll have to improve next year if he’s to earn an extension at KTM.

Binder expected his MotoGP career to pan out a lot differently, particularly after winning the Czech GP in his first year. But he’s accepting of his current situation, and KTM have shown enough to suggest a return to the podium is possible before the end of the year.