We're slowly starting to figure it out, says Brad Binder after Czechia MotoGP eighth-place finish

Brad Binder was once again made to work hard as he charged from the back of the grid to walk away from the Czech Grand Prix with a valuable eighth-place finish, salvaging points after another gritty ride.

The South African returned to the Brno circuit — the same track where he made history in 2020 by delivering not only his first MotoGP win but also KTM’s first in the premier class — with hopes of reviving his season, which has been far from easy so far. The 29-year-old started his race from 19th place looking for more improvement following his 10th-place finish in Saturday's sprint race.

Binder admitted that finishing eighth in the main race wasn’t exactly satisfying, but he took heart from the progress made with recent adjustments and is optimistic that the upcoming four-week summer break will allow the team to take further steps forward.

“I still never had the pace I was looking for, but somehow we were a little better (Sunday)," Binder said after the race. “I found a way to be better in mid-corner and exit, but I was losing a lot of time in braking and entry.

“It just seemed to be more controllable in my hand, so I was really happy about that, and by no means am I happy with 8th position, but — even though it doesn’t look like it — we are slowly starting to figure it out.

“This is something we have to work on and find the combination; if we can do that, then it can be very positive. We tried something completely different with the bike, a little bit with the engine character, and it helped a bit with the edge grip and the drive.”

Spanish rider and Binder’s teammate Pedro Acosta continued his good form with the RC16 as he secured a podium third-place finish behind championship favorite Marc Marquez and Aprilia’s Marco Bezzecchi, who was second.

Acosta has been the top KTM rider this season, currently finding himself in t of the championship riders, and Binder believes he can take away valuable lessons from his teammate and Tech3’s Enea Bastianini, who also looked strong before crashing out in the main race.

“The really good thing is that both Pedro and Enea were super-fast this weekend, so I have some good things to check and figure out how they are doing it.”