Aprilia will decide between Lorenzo Savadori and Bradley Smith based on pre-season testing.For us, as a family, it is really amazing that we will both be racing in the MotoGP Class now because that is what we have all been working towards. I am looking forward to having him on the grid with me in 2022. To make the jump from Moto3 to MotoGP is not easy, but he did extremely well at the first test. Are you looking forward to a bit of sibling rivalry?Д«B: It will be really awesome to have Darryn in the class with me, but he has a big job ahead of him. W24: 2022 will see your brother Darryn move up to the MotoGP class. A lot of guys are much slower in the race than in qualifying, but I can maintain the same pace or very close to the same pace as my qualifying pace, which has been good for me come race day. On the flip side, I race the same as what I qualify. Once we can take more advantage of the new tyre, it will help a lot too, but there is some work to be done from my riding side. You really need to understand these bikes very well and how far you can push the tyres before you can really get those last two or three-tenths required to push yourself up the order. I have been working a lot on improving my qualifying and being able to put in one strong lap in each session.

Do you have a plan in place to improve your qualifying performance?Д«B: Yeah, it is a complete mess starting further back because you can not push and do clean laps, and you lose a lot of time that is near impossible to make up. W24: You are a really strong contender come race day, but seem to always struggle during qualifying, which often puts you on the back foot. If we take everything we have learnt this year and maybe combine it with one or two more new parts at the first test, things will hopefully fall into place. The racing is so tight in MotoGP at the moment if we can find a couple of tenths per lap, we will be fighting for the podium every weekend. We could work around it and improve things, but we haven't entirely solved our issues. So it was only later on in the year that we realised that we had a rear grip problem. We were really excited heading into the second half of the year, but three or four tracks hid our grip issues very well due to their open and flowing nature and their lack of low-speed areas followed by big acceleration zones. Midway through the year, we made huge steps to get the bike to turn in, thanks mostly to the new frame. We are really struggling with rear grip out of the corners, and in the wheelie zones, we are wheeling a bit too much and not getting as much power down on the ground as we need to. W24: What are you and your team looking forward to improving during the off-season?Д«B: There are two main areas where we can find time. We have had some good battles on track, and not many people can say they raced against Rossi. It has been an honour to race against Valentino during the last couple of years. Will he be missed in the paddock?Д«B: Rossi is a legend of the sport, and it is sad to see him go. W24: The end of 2021 saw the retirement of Valentino Rossi. I was really consistent and finished all the races but one. Obviously, I want more for myself and the team, but we made really good improvements. To walk away at the end of the season with sixth in the championship was great it is my best MotoGP season result so far. It was fantastic to win the KTM and Red Bull home race.

Wheels24: How do you feel about your performance during the 2021 season?Д«rad Binder: My highlight of the year was definitely my win in Austria. Wheels24 sat down with the Red Bull KTM rider during his December break back home in South Africa. Next year will see Brad Binder joined by brother Darryn on the MotoGP grid, which should provide an extra dose of excitement for South African motorcycle race fans come race day. The future is exciting for Binder, who has extended his partnership with the Red Bull KTM team until 2024. Follow African Red Bull KTM Rider Brad Binder has had a great year in the MotoGP championship, claiming sixth place and a spectacular win in the wet in Austria.

Motogp 2021