Marco Bezzecchi
Brad Binder secured the best result of his 2025 MotoGP season against the odds at the Indonesian Grand Prix.
Despite starting down in 15th place, the South African rider made an array of overtakes and benefited from some of the chaos around him. For just the second time this season, KTM finished with two riders in the top four, marking another solid performance in their recent turnaround.
Binder will feel some relief that he has finally found his way into the top five, and his experience will have been handy during the Indonesian Grand Prix. As others crashed out of, or made mistakes during the race, he kept his cool and waited for opportunities to present themselves to him.
Looking back on his Saturday sprint, Binder said things were ‘really tricky’, forcing him into making changes overnight. Binder’s exciting verdict on a KTM upgrade in Japan may have been legitimate after his latest performance. Maybe a new page has been turned.
READ MORE: Brad Binder’s biggest problem at KTM is obvious as he lags behind MotoGP rookies in vital area
Brad Binder made a setup ‘change’ which fixed the front of his KTM at the Indonesian Grand Prix
With a handful of races to go, Binder still stands a chance of continuing his streak of top 10 finishes in the championship to five seasons. He currently sits 11th, 10 points behind LCR’s Johann Zarco, whose form has dipped since the summer break.
The best time to take advantage of that slump is now, with Marc Marquez potentially out for the season, and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi set to undergo a concussion assessment. A podium at the next race in Phillip Island could be a real possibility.
SPEEDWEEK reports that Binder made a ‘change’ to his bike in Indonesia, which improved his feel with the front end. From there, the added confidence allowed him to push a bit harder during the race.
“I’m definitely happier with the race. The bike turned in better and felt more stable. That gave me the confidence to finally push again.
“That was the first time in a long time that I was able to really move forward. Lately, I’ve often been stuck in traffic and couldn’t do anything. Today it was finally a real race again – I was able to fight, overtake, and push.”
READ MORE: Brad Binder just showed how much he cares about KTM after defending rare Pedro Acosta ‘problem’
When was the last time Brad Binder achieved a MotoGP podium?
It has now been nearly two whole seasons of action since Binder last finished on the podium, and it came at the start of 2024.
His second and last win to date came over four years ago, and without significant progress over the winter, it’s hard to see either of those things changing soon.
2026 is a contract year for Binder, who will feel some pressure to perform well if he wants to extend his career beyond a seventh season.
KTM’s future in the championship is still uncertain for the new regulations, meaning a new environment may be necessary, but learning a new team this late into his career would be a tough option.
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