This is only Brad Binder’s third race in the top level of motorcycle racing, but he has made an impression already with his KTM MotoGP team by taking home his first win at the Czech Grand Prix after a difficult start to the season.
Binder has had a tough start to the 2020 season. A thirteenth place finish followed by a retirement at the first two races at Jerez seemed a bad omen for the rider who won the 2016 Moto3 championship and just missed out on a Moto2 championship last year. The South African holds a hell of a lot of promise, and it seems like he’s hit his stride.
Binder took the lead on lap 13 after pushing up from his seventh qualifying position. After that point, he was completely untouchable. By the time he took the checkered flag on lap 21, Binder had built a 5.2 second gap between himself and his nearest competition.
It’s been a while since a rookie has won a MotoGP event—Marc Marquez is the last to have taken that distinction back in 2013. And while Binder’s feeder series record isn’t quite as spectacular as Marquez’s (and, really, it would take a damn prodigy to outclass Marquez), Binder’s win has established him as a rookie to watch. He might just have a long, successful future in the pinnacle of motorcycle racing.