Marco Bezzecchi
Brad Binder has been essential to the development of the KTM RC16 since he debuted in MotoGP in 2020, but there are still parts on the bike that he is desperate to change.
KTM handed Binder his premier class debut in their factory MotoGP team in 2020 to cap his rise through the lower classes in the Austrian brand’s colours. Binder even took his first race win in his third start at the 2020 Czech Grand Prix, but he has only achieved one further win.
Binder claimed his second and most recent MotoGP victory at the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix, since which he has only reached nine further podiums. The 30-year-old also failed to score a single Grand Prix podium in a season for the first time in 2025’s record 22-round campaign.
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Brad Binder wishes KTM would improve how their bike spins under acceleration
The South African has now failed to reach the rostrum through his past 40 Grand Prix starts, stretching back to his P2 finish in the 2024 season-opener in Qatar. Binder recorded his best result of the 2025 MotoGP season in Indonesia, after rising from P15 on the grid to earn P4.
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A variety of factors have combined to cause Binder to lose his way, but he sees the way that the KTM RC16 spins up its tyres under acceleration as a major cause of his problems. Binder would instantly have KTM improve how the RC16 drives out of corners, if he had the choice.
“If I could choose one thing, I’d say that when I lift the bike, it doesn’t spin as much,” Binder told Crash. “If I could just drive [out of the corners] every time I lifted the bike, I think that would make a massive difference.”
Pedro Acosta proved the KTM RC16 was capable of more than Brad Binder achieved in 2025
KTM made big strides with the performance of the RC16 during the 2025 season after they introduced a new aero package in round 13 at the Austrian Grand Prix. Pedro Acosta, Enea Bastianini and Binder all finished in the top seven at the Red Bull Ring for KTM’s best event.
But while Acosta used the upgrade to build on scoring his first podium with the works KTM team in the previous Grands Prix in Czechia, Binder only matched his P7 in the Austrian GP in Hungary and he only bettered it during the Grands Prix in Indonesia (P4) and Portugal (P5).
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Acosta finished the Czech GP in third place, for what would be his first of five podiums over the final 11 rounds of the 2025 season. The 21-year-old even finished inside the top five in nine of the final 11 races, and he was running P6 in Japan before he went off on Lap 19/24.
Binder will now hope KTM can improve how the RC16 uses the tyres under acceleration to try to respond in 2026. But Binder’s difficulties with Michelin’s rear tyre introduced during the 2024 season have also caused him frequent problems, and may be a challenge in 2026.
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