Luck not on Brad Binder’s side as MotoGP career draw to a close

Red Bull KTM man forced to retire due to a technical issue with his RC16 in Qatar. The old adage of “racing is a cruel mistress” reared its ugly head in at the weekend when Brad Binder threw in the towel at the Qatar MotoGP. After starting from 11th on the grid, the Red Bull KTM rider was forced to retire his RC16 on the 17th lap of the 22-lap main race in Losail on Sunday due to a technical issue. The result meant that he left Qatar empty-handed after finishing 12th in Saturday’s sprint race. Binder, who has 118 points in the championship, managed to hold on to 12th place in the title race as 13th-placed Luca Marini (117) did not race in Qatar due to fatigue. With only two rounds to go in Portugal and Valencia, he trails Fermin Aldegeur (127) in 11th place by nine points. Brad Binder licks his wounds “At the start of the race everything seemed quite okay. Then I started to miss some shifts and had some massive vibration. That was it,” said Binder, who competes in the World Superbike Championship next season. “Unfortunate … but it was a tricky weekend and I’m looking forward to starting fresh in Portimao.” The weekend started on a promising note for Binder when he secured direct entry into Q2 on Friday. He however failed to put up a good show on his spare bike after an early crash and had to settle for 12th place for the sprint race. He gained one place for the main race after Pecco Bagnaia pulled out after fracturing his foot in the sprint race. Marquez on the brink Ducati’s Marc Marquez (431 points), who was runner-up to Marco Bezzecchi under the lights in Qatar, stretched his lead over Jorge Martin (371) to 60 points in Qatar. A brave ride from Martin saw the 2024 champion finish seventh with a broken wrist he suffered just two weeks ago. It was another weekend to forget for Ruché Moodley, who finished the Moto3 outside the points in 21st place. The penultimate round of the 2026 season takes places in Portimao in two weeks’ time, followed by the Valencia Grand Prix a week later.