A stunning late charge from Brad Binder saw the Red Bull KTM rider secure second place at the Japanese MotoGP behind race winner Jack Miller in Motegi on Sunday.
Binder, who started from third on the grid, overtook Jorge Martin on the last lap to secure his second podium place of the season and fourth of his career. He also finished second at the season’s opening race in Qatar.
Miller, who started the race from seventh on the grid, gave the rest of the field a masterclass as he took the lead on the third lap and looked untoucable as he quickly opened up a lead of over three seconds on Martin. The Australian coasted to a 3.4-second victory over Binder.
The 2021 world champion and current championship leader Fabio Quartararo, quite remarkably stretched his lead to 19 points by finishing a lowly ninth. The Frenchman is on 219 points, 19 ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (200) and 25 points ahead of Aleix Esparargaro (194) with four races remaining.
Espargargaro finished one place outside the points in 16th. The Spaniard experienced technical issues on the formation lap and a bike change saw him joining the race from the pit lane.
Bagnaia, who started the race 10 points behind Quartararo, was running in ninth and looked to have limited Quartararo’s advantage to one point when he agonisingly crashed out on the final lap.
ALSO READ: WATCH: Brad Binder sets new benchmark around Kyalami
The 20 points Binder earned saw him overtake Frenchman Johann Zarco into sixth place in the world championship. The 2016 Moto3 world champion is on 148 points, 11 points behind Miller (159) in fifth place.
“I’m really, really happy with the finish today,” and elated Binder said after the race.
“A big thanks to my team. We put in so much effort and hopefully there are many more [podium finishes] to come.”
Brad Binder’s younger brother Darryn Binder retired on the 11th lap.
The next MotoGP race is in Thailand on 2 October.
To see the rest of the 2022 MotoGP calender, click here.
