In earning his first points in only his second MotoGP start, Darryn Binder almost did the unthinkable in Indonesia on Sunday by beating big brother Brad Binder.
Starting from 23rd on the grid in the rain-affected Grand Prix of Indonesia, Darryn stormed through the field to finish 10th and earn the ride of the day award.
The WithU Yamaha RNF rider went wheel-to-wheel with Brad, admitting how sweet it would have been to beat his big brother, who went on to finish eighth.
“After I moved up into the points, which I was really happy about, I started seeing my brother and thought, here we go, maybe we could have a race for a little bit. I managed to get past him, but I got through just too quickly and the last couple of laps I struggled a little bit,” Darryn told motogp.com.
“Riding against Brad was cool. I wish I beat them, but he got the best of me today and I’ll try and beat him the next opportunity I get.”
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Brad his eighth place on Sunday felt “like a win”.
The eight points Brad earned at the Mandalika circuit helped the Red Bull KTM rider close the gap on championship leader Enea Bastianini to just two points.
The Italian, who won the season opener in Qatar, earned five points in Indonesia to move up to 30 points, followed by Brad (28) and current world champion Fabio Quartararo (27).
Brad’s team-mate Miguel Oliveira won the second race of the season to move up to fourth in the championship on 25 points.
Red Bull KTM’s points haul of 33 means that the Austrian outfit tops the manufacturers standings for the first time in its six-year tenure in the category. KTM (53 points) is 12 points clear of second placed Monster Energy Yamaha (41).
Brad admitted he had high hopes of building on his fourth place at the start after the race finally got underway, following a 75-minute delay due to the wet weather.
However, a technical problem early in the race cost him dearly.
“I’m disappointed because I had a good feeling all weekend and especially with rain tires. Unfortunately, I did the whole race with the ride height device down, and to finish eighth is like a win.
“If it had been a dry race then I don’t think I would have been able to do anything. So, we got unlucky and lucky with the circumstances.”
Darryn added that racing in the wet was a steep learning curve on the powerful MotoGP bike.
After spending seven seasons in Moto3, he went straight to the premier class this year.
“It was quite an experience. I could not believe the amount of grip those tires had in the rain. It took a few laps for me to think jeez, can I open the throttle this hard? It just felt better and better and I kept on pushing,” added the younger Binder brother.
The next race is on April 3 in Argentina, with the show moving to the United States for the Grand Prix of the Americas a week later.
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