Brad Binder admitted he was in “win or bust” mode while battling Jorge Martin for victory in the Thai Grand Prix as he aimed to break a two-year win drought.
The factory KTM rider pushed eventual victor Martin for the entirety of the 26-lap Thai thriller, the South African enjoying more rear grip from his RC16 than the Spaniard could garner from his Pramac Ducati.
Having finally managed to pass Martin at Turn 9 with just four laps remaining, Binder tried to break away to secure supremacy – though he ultimately fell back into the clutches of the Thai sprint winner as the adhesion from his rear tyre suddenly fell away from him.
Having crossed the line just 0.114s from victory, Binder was then relegated to third due to exceeding track limits at Turn 4 on the final tour. Conceding that he knew he would have to drop a spot after running wide on the final lap, Binder explained that he had been in “win or bust” mode all race to try and finally snap his long winless streak.
“I saw South Africa won the (rugby) world cup today, so I was win or bust,” said Binder.
“I did my best, but Jorge (Martin) did an unreal job as I tried to stay behind him and save my tyres for the whole race.
“I thought I did enough, but the moment I passed him I realised the grip dropped so it was tricky. On the last lap, I felt that I was close enough and thought if I could just put my wheel there I could make something happen, and then at Turn 4 I went in a little hotter than a lap before and washed out and touched the green.
“I knew from the previous laps that my best chance (to pass Martin) was in the third sector because that’s where I felt I had a bit extra. I tried my hardest, but it wasn’t meant to be today.
“I tried to brake late and roll through there (Turn 4). Initially, I had the brake on for a little longer, and then when I cranked the gas I think I pulled the weight off the front tyre and as soon as I picked it up it just went wide and touched the green.
“From that point, it was a case of just surviving and fighting with what I had.”
The two-time premier class race winner added that he still tried to “push on” and pass Martin for the on-the-road win to try and at least salvage a second following his penalty. He was also left encouraged about some of his KTM’s “strong points” having gone toe-to-toe with the fastest machine currently in the field.
“I tried to push on and get Jorge anyway because I knew it’d be a plus one position, so I could have still finished second rather than third,” continued Binder.
“It’s never cool to lose a spot, but at the end of the day, I’m still on the podium and gave it my all so I can’t complain.
“The best thing is that even though everything wasn’t perfect in the race, we have some really strong points when I can exploit them. If we can make our weaker points a little stronger, I think we’ll be really good.”
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