It's time to take stock, but above all, happy new year and good health to you! Like every year for three years,
Let's talk MotoGP is embarking on a fairly important undertaking: taking stock of each driver at the end of the 2024 season, today, Brad Binder's turn. For a good part of the winter, we will go back through the rankings in reverse, to the point of talking in detail about the world champion's campaign. Are you ready? Here we go!
Yesterday, we returned to the case of Pedro Acosta; click here to find the corresponding article.
Same, but not quite
Brad Binder is one of the most interesting cases in MotoGP. Its seasons are not the least bit similar from one year to the next. In 2022, he opted for a conservative philosophy, playing on regularity and falling little. In 2023, Brad had decided to attack excessively, each time on the razor's edge, what paid off from an accounting point of view. In 2024, he had a hybrid season, resuming the regularity in the performance of 2022, but also and unfortunately, the errors of judgment noted in 2023.
Brad Binder only shone under spotlights you Qatar. Photo: KTM
His campaign was quite successful, and undoubtedly frustrating. In fifth place in the championship, he is in a kind of vicious middle ground. This is the “best of the rest”the highest ranked non-Ducati rider, but woefully far from fourth, Enea Bastianini. He finished a few points ahead of Pedro Acosta, but 186 points behind “Bestia”. In short, he couldn't do much better. On this point, it is a success.
However, I'm not fascinated by the South African either. First, he has not forgotten aggressiveness in 2023. On several occasions, he has attempted his famous blockpass dont
everyone, I think, would be fine. He's very difficult to overtake, and that's a good thing, but personally, I don't like his style. Moreover, Pecco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi paid the price in Jerez in the Sprint, following a huge error of judgment.
Then, it didn't really pay off. Apart from this first round in Qatar during which he compiled two second places, he never returned to the top 3whether in Sprint or Grand Prix. It's pretty incredible for a driver of Brad Binder's level, and disappointing, too. Last year, he competed for victories with Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia, while this season, he had all the difficulty in the world to contain Pedro Acosta who enjoyed the same equipment. Therefore, questions arise.
The man for the job?
KTM has never pitted a rider as strong as Pedro Acosta against Brad Binder in MotoGP. I mentioned it at the start of the season, specifying that the real test would arrive in 2024 for the prodigy. And the conclusions hurt. On a bike known to be difficult to tame, Acosta, also a crack rider, largely competed with Binder. The worst part is that I think Pedro had some margin in terms of accounting given his large number of falls. Casually, Binder fell 19 times (fifth highest total on the grid) but this did not reveal an impressive intrinsic speed as was the case for Acosta. Likewise, Acosta's very good results in qualifying show that the KTM RC16 is capable of going fast on a lapand yet, Binder can't do it.
Brad Binder shows himself too little, at least from what we know. Photo: KTM
Obviously, it was more difficult to see his shortcomings against Pol Espargaro, Augusto Fernandez and Jack Miller, as you will have understood. But the revelation Acosta, who did not, in my opinion, have an exceptional season either, shows that Binder may not be the man for the job.
Another striking point is his outings in the media. Of all the leading pilots, Binder is undoubtedly the most discreet, the most self-effacing. Acosta, for his part, directly took the bull by the horns – no pun intended – by warning about the situation in Mattighofen. It's as if Pedro was already mature enough to take on this program whose future is quite unclear.as if Acosta, in just one year, had become the face of KTM, making us forget, with his presence, his liveliness and his freshness, four years of work by Brad Binder. The South African, also a prodigy, has not really taken KTM into another dimension since he became the clear number 1 under the Austrian awning. Without minimizing its importance, it would seem that the man for the job, if he exists, is Spanish.
Conclusion
I'm not going to hide anything from you, Brad Binder is not one of my favorite drivers. I must have had trouble with what he gives off, with his image, with his driving style too. But in this subjective section, I try, despite everything – and although many of you find it hard to believe it – to use objective arguments. And I think I'm not lying when I say that Binder, a very talented driver if ever there was one, does not have the charisma, the cheekiness or the speed of Pedro Acosta, harsh but logical and legitimate framework. His season was okay, of course, because he couldn't do much better, but his excesses of discretion and his excesses are now working against him.
I'm curious if you share my opinion regarding Brad Binder, so, tell me in comments!
As a reminder, this article only reflects the thoughts of its author, and not of the entire editorial staff.
KTM has, in any case, a very nice duo. Photo: KTM
Cover photo: KTM
