Marco Bezzecchi
Brad Binder admits he “100%” endured his worst season in MotoGP during 2025, but the KTM rider knows where he could improve to make his life “much easier” in 2026.
Next term will see Binder contest his seventh season in the premier class, since debuting for KTM back in 2020. But the 30-year-old’s woes during the 2025 campaign saw Pedro Acosta cast a shadow over him in the 21-year-old’s first year with the Austrian outfit’s factory team.
Acosta beat Binder in all 22 qualifying sessions in 2025, and he shattered the South African’s points total as the top two KTM riders. The Spaniard scored 307 points to also take P4 in the standings, while Binder only earned 155 points and finished the season P11 in the standings.
Binder had not finished a MotoGP season as low in the riders’ championship since his rookie campaign for KTM in 2020, when he also ranked 11th. He also failed to secure a single Grand Prix podium through a season for the first time in 2025, with a best result of P4 in Indonesia.
Brad Binder thinks qualifying was his biggest weakness in 2025, change his mind
Brad Binder identifies improving his qualifying results as ‘my goal’ for 2026
Binder admits that his troubles throughout 2025 make this season “100%” the worst year of his MotoGP career so far. But Binder can see the light at the end of his gloomy tunnel, as he claims improving his qualifying results in 2026 will make a world of difference for his results.
READ MORE: Everything to know about Brad Binder from career stats to wife
“I think I can improve, there’s no doubt about it,” Binder told Motorsport.com. “I’ve never been good at qualifying since I started racing in Moto3. Let’s just say it’s not exactly my strong point.
“But there are things I can improve on, and I think things are working much better now over race distance, or even more so when the times start to drop. Obviously, if we start further up the field, it will be much easier.
“In many races, in the heat of the race, I’m not that slow. I’m just not very good at starting. I think if we can qualify on the first two rows, it will be a different world. So, that’s my goal. I need to be fast over one lap. When something clicks, we’ll be fine.”
Brad Binder only qualified inside the top 10 twice during the 2025 MotoGP season
Binder struggled to extract single-lap performance from the KTM RC16 throughout the 2025 MotoGP season. The South African only secured five Q2 appearances through the 22 rounds this season and he qualified in the top 10 only twice, with P6 at Aragon and P10 in Germany.
READ MORE: Everything to know about KTM from the MotoGP team’s riders to hierarchy
Will Brad Binder still be a KTM rider in 2027?
The British Grand Prix and Czech Grand Prix saw Binder produce his worst qualifying results in 2025, having sealed P19 at Silverstone and Brno. He also qualified P18 in Qatar, Japan and Malaysia, where the top KTM rider was P6 (Maverick Vinales), P4 (Acosta) and P5 (Acosta).
All KTM riders struggled at Silverstone, with Acosta the brand’s leader in P14. Acosta took P7 as the top KTM rider in qualifying at Brno, where even test rider Pol Espargaro out-qualified Binder in P14 whilst deputising for Vinales after the Spaniard’s shoulder injury in Germany.
Binder now recognises qualifying as the biggest weakness from his worst season in MotoGP so far. He only finished P14 at Silverstone and P8 at Brno after his worst qualifying results of 2025. He also only sealed P13 in Qatar, P12 in Japan and P9 in Malaysia after qualifying P18.
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