Binder finds his wings at the Red Bull Ring

Brad Binder rediscovered some of his form at the Red Bull Ring this past Sunday, soaring beneath Austrian skies in a performance that turned a difficult season into a weekend of promise.

Binder’s season has been a series of ups and downs, and he entered the summer break with more questions than solutions. Yet his performances since the restart hint that the latter half of the year could still produce some of his strongest showings.

The weekend in Austria demonstrated noticeable improvement. His sprint race in particular caught the eye, with a fifth-place finish on Saturday marking his best result in a sprint this season.

The summer break seems to have worked wonders for the South African, who returned refreshed and focused. Although he didn’t crack the top ten in qualifying, he fought his way up from 11th on the grid to finish seventh in Sunday’s main race.

Binder left Austria with a solid 14 points, bringing his season total to 82 and placing him 11th in the standings. Despite the result, he still felt there were moments when he could have done more.

“(Sunday) could have been much better,” Binder admitted, after the race.

“I didn’t get a good start but made some moves and was up to 5th. I was then sent into the fans by another rider! I lost a few seconds there and one of my wings.

“It was tough from then on because it was hard here for the wheelie without the aero and the bike was wobbling more. It was a long race!

“I felt like I put up a good fight and did all I could. We got seventh today but the potential was there for more.”

Team manager Aki Ajo was equally encouraged by the team’s overall performance, highlighting the steady progress being made across the board.

“A really positive day for us with all three riders in the top seven,” Ajo said. “Pedro (Acosta), again, a really strong race even though the podium was just out of reach and we saw a big step forward for Brad and Enea (Bastianini) after the last GPs and that gives us optimism for the new challenge of Balaton Park.”