Brad Binder battles RC16 limitations once again in tough Dutch Grand Prix

Brad Binder’s 2025 MotoGP season continued to follow a frustrating pattern at the Grand Prix of the Netherlands, where a lack of outright speed in his Red Bull KTM RC16 again left the South African star fighting from behind.

Binder endured a torrid build-up to the Assen weekend, struggling through practice with finishes of 18th, 19th, and 20th. His qualifying woes continued as he failed to advance from Q1, securing a 16th-place start, compounding the challenge of turning things around on race day.

“I didn’t have much pace all weekend,” Binder admitted frankly.

The 29-year-old, renowned for his consistency and fighting spirit, once again managed to salvage a result from a tough situation, bringing his bike home in 11th place on Sunday. Although he missed out on points in Saturday’s Sprint, his Sunday result earned him a total of five valuable championship points for the weekend. 

It also marked the second weekend in a row where he avoided mistakes, stayed upright, and limited the damage despite starting well outside the top ten.

“I could do the same time every lap, but it was too slow. I missed the speed here. It’s been tough, and the only positive thing is that I finished both races,” he continued. “But that doesn’t mean much to me.

“We need to go home and analyze where I was losing the time. In general, it is nothing too serious; we just need a bit more speed.”

What’s becoming increasingly frustrating for Binder (47) is the comparison with rookie teammate Pedro Acosta (98), who has consistently extracted stronger performances from the same machinery as he finished fourth, opening a 51-point gap in the riders championship.

Despite the underwhelming weekend, KTM Racing Manager Aki Ajo remained optimistic about the team’s direction.

“We had a very positive (Sunday) in Assen,” Ajo said. 

“Overall, we followed our positive trend, but we missed the Quali, and that is so important in MotoGP now: if you are not starting on the first two rows, then it’s a tough fight for podium places.

“Anyway, we understand what we need to improve, and we’re working on it, like the turning of the bike. For this track there were some areas where we were struggling a little, but we know on Sundays, with harder tires, we are closer and closer to the top.

“We need to be happy about Enea’s (Bastianini) top ten result, and the P11 for Brad after a challenging weekend shows we are near the right direction for both.”