The Grand Prix of Valencia was a superb race for Brad Binder who was finally able to show the world what he's capable of, achieving a magnificent 4th!
The young South African battled like a gladiator and just missed the podium on the last corner to much more experienced Khairuddin. Starting from 15th place on the grid, Brad had a great start and immediately showed good pace and started overtaking many riders including Luis Salom, Rossi, Faubel and Oliveira. Brad felt very comfortable on his KALEX-KTM and knew he could reach a podium position, so he stayed focused and just thought about going as fast as he could without making any mistakes. Once he reached the third position, British rider Danny Kent pushed him wide while trying to overtake him, and Brad consequently dropped down to 6th position. Nevertheless, Brad didn't give up and it didn't take long for him to get back to the position he belonged to.
The last few laps were certainly the most breath taking of his career: the whole RW Racing GP Team was trembling and smiling at the same time in the garage, especially at the end of the race, with 3 laps to go, when Brad was able to make a fantastic overtake on the Malaysian rider!
Brad stayed in 3rd until the last corner of the last lap, when Khairuddin passed him to grab the podium, but what a race it was, and what a fight right up until the end! When Brad came back to the the pit box everyone was waiting for him and even MotoGP rider Cal Crutchlow came to congratulate him!
Now the MotoGP season is over, but Brad will be making an appearance in the last round of the Spanish Championship next weekend, also here in Valencia, with his new team Ambrogio NEXT Racing.
Brad Binder :
"It was a great race! I gave my best and I'm so happy about this 4th place: not just a top 10 but a top 5, finally a great result! I believe we could have been up there even earlier, but luck hasn't been on our side..until now! Finishing the season this way feels so good. I'm just speechless, but I'm also sad because this is not only the last race of the season but also my last race with RW Racing GP. I would like to thank everyone : my Mom, Dad and Daz for the huge sacrifice they have made for me this year, Des for working with me since I started racing, my friends, our team manager Johan Stigefelt, my mechanics Rob and Dominique and my Crew Chief Jan, the owner of RW Racing GP Roelof Waninge, KTM and Kalex, my Team Mate - Luis Salom, my manager Steve Burgess, my sponsors Tutti Frutti, Pole Position Travel, Sweep, Arai, and Alpinestars, Karen Landi and Ella Scaglioni for taking care of all the Media and PR, Donovan and Nikki from Racerzone for my awesome website, Rob Portman and last but not least all my fans on Twitter and Facebook for the fabulous support! Now a new adventure will start for me."
Team manager Johan Stigefelt:
"What Brad did was incredible. Absolutely fantastic! We couldn’t believe our eyes when we saw him coming forward. And Luis’ achievement was great as well. I’m so proud on how he decided to back off and secure second in the championship. It is a great day for our team. It’s an honour to be a part of this. I’d like to thank everybody: Kalex and KTM and all our other partners and suppliers. It is a pity to see our riders leave but we keep in touch and we wish them all the best in the rest of their careers. And we welcome our new riders Jasper Iwema and Jakub Kornfeil. But first we celebrate."
Brad Binder Official Website Press Release
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