MotoGP: Binder, KTM Take Stunning First MotoGP Win in Brno

Brno has hosted some historical moments over the years, and on Sunday it was no different, as Brad Binder took his and KTM’s first MotoGP win at the Czech track. 

Binder’s season had started frustratingly. The #33 rider had shown great promise and pace worthy of the podium in the two races in Jerez, but mistakes had cost him from delivering on that potential. 

In Brno, however, things were different for the South African rider, who made a decent start and was running inside the top six from early on in the race. On lap two Binder was able to move from fifth to third, and sitting behind championship leader, Fabio Quartararo. 

Whilst he was behind the Petronas Yamaha SRT rider, Biner realised he had more pace than the #20, and passed him on lap nine. He then set after Franco Morbidelli, who had led from the start and had created a lead of over one second by the time Binder passed Quartararo. It took Binder three laps to catch Morbidelli and one lap later he made his move a turn 10, where numerous riders had crashed over the weekend across all three classes. 

That move was the end of the battle for the lead. Morbidelli knew it, he had seen Binder come from over one second behind within three laps, and pass him with relative ease once he had arrived. 

It was an almost instant admission of defeat from Morbidelli, which might seem like a weakness. But the proof of Binder’s superiority is found in the race times. Binder finished over five seconds ahead of Morbidelli, and behind the Italian was Johann Zarco, another 1.2 seconds back in third place. Morbidelli rode to his limit, which shows that Binder’s limit was far above that of his competitors. There was no one close to the rookie, who became the first rider to win in his first year of MotoGP since Marc Marquez in Texas, 2013.

Thus, the comparisons between the two are numerous. To start with Marquez, he won by 1.534 seconds in Texas in 2013, compared to Binder’s 5.266-second winning margin in Brno. In fact, you could fit the top three from Texas, 2013, into the gap between Binder and Morbidelli last Sunday. Additionally, Marquez won on a motorcycle that had already won multiple races in 2012 and for a factory that had been one of the most victorious in the history of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. In comparison, Binder won on a bike and for a factory that had not had even a single dry weather podium in MotoGP, let alone a win. 

The comparisons could continue for a while, but perhaps the most important one is the way Binder rides, which is as close to Marquez as anyone in the world. One of the most visual comparisons is to look at Binder’s crash in the Andalusian Grand Prix. Binder lost the front into the final corner, and high-sided. When Marquez loses the front, he sticks his knee out, digs it into the floor, reaches with his elbow and plugs in some throttle. Binder’s high-side points to the application of throttle, and his knee position was almost identical to Marquez’. He wasn’t exactly the same with the elbow, and it is possible to say that Binder used too much throttle, but the point is that the intention is there, the idea to ride like Marquez is there for Binder. 

Furthermore, it was evident in his regular riding in Brno, with Binder riding heavily on the front end, whilst also using a lot of rear brake to slide the rear tyre into the corner. Marquez is famed for his use of the rear brake and how he uses the rear tyre to slow the bike down into corners and steer the bike in the middle of corners. The fact that Binder has – on a philosophically similar motorcycle – been able to discover how to ride in a similar way, and now with success, will have been noticed by Marquez and should be a concern for his rivals. 

Binder’s gain was Morbidelli’s loss, and missing the win will no doubt be a cause of frustration from Morbidelli who looked so strong in the first half of the race, but the Italian was able to seal his first podium with second place, finishing as the top Yamaha rider. After the disappointment of Jerez, it will have been a relieving result for Morbidelli, who will now be looking for his first win in the next races. 

Morbidelli’s podium was achieved with, essentially, the 2019 Yamaha, and in third place was another 2019 bike, that of Johann Zarco’s Desmosedici GP19. It wasn’t a straightforward race for Zarco. When Pol Espargaro ran wide on the entry to the first corner on lap 10, Zarco continued on the regular line. The two riders’ lines converged at the second apex of the first turn, and Espargaro went down due to the contact. Race Direction deemed the incident was Zarco’s fault, and he took a long-lap penalty for the offence. It seemed like a harsh penalty for the Frenchman, as he essentially paid the price for Espargaro’s mistake, but in the end it did not cost him too much, in part down to the perfect execution of the long-lap loop by the #5. 

In the end, Zarco’s podium represented a remarkable turnaround for the Esponsorama Racing rider, who announced he was leaving KTM around one year ago. To now arrive on the podium, far out-performing all the other Ducati riders, justified Zarco’s decision to leave KTM last year. Now the #5 is back in the frame to move up the Ducati ladder next year and with Dovizioso far from confirmed in the factory team for 2021, maybe that could be the destination for Zarco.

Just missing out on the podium was a quite heroic Alex Rins who finished fourth. The race took place just over three weeks on from the crash in Spanish Grand Prix qualifying that broke the head of his humerus and caused some damage in his shoulder. To race with such a strong pace, and to fight with the likes of Zarco until the very end of the race, with that physical condition is extremely impressive. It also speaks to the rideability of the Suzuki, as well as the understanding Rins has with the GSX-RR. Had he not been forced to miss the first race, Rins’ prospects for the title could be much different. 

In fifth place was Valentino Rossi. On paper, this is a step backwards from his result in Jerez. However, when you consider the pace Rossi had at the end of the Andalusian Grand Prix, where he was plummeting back towards Takaaki Nakagami and had nothing like the rear grip of his teammate, Maverick Vinales, and compare that with the pace and grip he had in Brno, it actually seems that Rossi took a step forwards in the Czech Republic. Arguably, Rossi missed the podium only for the poor qualifying result of 10th, and the poor start that he suffered from that grid slot. With a second or third row grid slot, it is possible that Rossi fights for the podium. Either way, that the top 2020 Yamaha finished in fifth is a problem for the Iwata brand. 

Just behind Rossi was Miguel Oliveira, who took his best result of the season with sixth. Like Rossi, Oliveira missed out on fighting more directly for the podium due to a poor qualifying and a difficult start, getting stuck behind Ducatis. But, like Rossi, Oliveira can be encouraged by his strong pace in the second half of the race, and it seems that if he continues on this path the first premier class podium cannot be too far away. 

Seventh place went to Fabio Quartararo, who suffered with rear grip from the beginning of the race. He ran in second place for a while, but once Binder passed him the fall through the field didn’t really stop for the Frenchman. On the positive side, Quartararo finished ahead of both his closest championship rivals, Maverick Vinales and Andrea Dovizioso, and extended his championship lead. However, if the form of Binder continues, perhaps the challenge will come from elsewhere. 

In eighth over the line was Takaaki Nakagami, just over one second behind Quartararo. He was another rider to suffer due to a poor qualifying – 17th courtesy of a track limits violation – although his position as top Honda highlights the factory’s current problems. Behind Nakagami were Jack Miller – top Ducati GP20 – and Aleix Espargaro who completed the top 10 on the Aprilia, the Spaniard’s first finish of the season.

Andrea Dovizioso was a disappointing 11th. The 2020 Ducatis suffered all weekend for speed. Once more it was the 2020 Michelin rear tyre that was causing the issues for the Bologna brand’s factory riders. The additional grip provided by the new tyre makes it more difficult to slide the bike at the rear, something which Dovizioso was able to perfect in recent years in order to combat the Desmosedici’s on-going turning problems. Ducati’s problems are unlikely to be solved by Austria, but the bike’s engine performance could be enough to save them at the circuit where they have remained unbeaten since 2016. 

The second factory Ducati of Danilo Petrucci was 12th. Despite Petrucci’s difficulties since the second half of 2019, 12th is still an outstandingly poor result for the Italian – his worst since Aragon last year. Following Petrucci over the line was Cal Crutchlow, the top finisher on the 2020 RC213V, ahead of a somewhat hopeless Maverick Vinales who seemed to essentially spin his way around Brno for 21 laps to finish down in 14th – not a good result for his championship – and Alex Marquez who took the final point in 15th. 

Tito Rabat was 16th, ahead of Bradley Smith and Marc Marquez’ stand-in, Stefan Bradl, who was the final classified finisher in 18th. 

There were only three retirements, which was a surprise considering the lack of grip. Joan Mir was taken out by Iker Lecuona at turn 13 on the third lap, with Lecuona also retiring from the race as a result of the crash. Then Pol Espargaro crashed out after the aforementioned contact with Johann Zarco.