Brad Binder converted an 18th-place start into an eighth-place finish at the 2026 British Grand Prix, delivering his best result of the second half of the season as MotoGP returned from its summer break at Silverstone.
Friday didn’t go to plan. Brad Binder crashed at Luffield with a quarter of an hour left on the clock in Practice, ending the session down in P18. That result carried a sting — he had to fight through Q1 just to lock in 18th on the grid for the weekend.
Saturday brought a gamble that paid off. Brad Binder and Jack Miller were the only two riders in the Sprint to start on the medium rear tyre while the rest of the field went soft. It looked risky early, but Binder got stronger as the laps wore on, setting his fastest lap of the race on lap eight.
Sunday’s Grand Prix was where it came together. Brad Binder made a strong launch off the line, was into the points inside the first few corners, and kept climbing — past Iker Lecuona, past Jack Miller, past Fabio Quartararo — before Ai Ogura’s retirement moved him up another spot late on.
The weekend by the numbers:
- Friday Practice: crashed at Luffield, ended the session P18
- Qualifying: through Q1, started 18th on the grid
- Saturday Sprint: 11th, one of only two riders to gamble on the medium rear tyre
- Sunday Grand Prix: 8th, a ten-place gain from the start, finishing over 12 seconds behind reigning champion Marc Marquez in 7th
- Championship standings: 13th on 72 points, four adrift of Tech3 KTM team-mate Enea Bastianini, who crashed out of the race
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing:
“A much better weekend than we’ve had in a while. Friday didn’t quite go to plan after the crash in Practice but from Saturday onwards things started to come together. We made the right call with the medium tyre in the Sprint, learned a lot for Sunday and finally felt like we were moving in the right direction with the bike. Starting 18th and finishing 8th wasn’t a bad way to round things off either. Still plenty of work to do but I leave Silverstone feeling a lot more comfortable and a lot more optimistic than I have in recent weeks. Thanks to the team for all the hard work.”
“Doesn’t matter if it’s his last year in the class — that’s a bloke still digging, still fighting. Proud of him!” – 🎙️Jay
This is reportedly Binder’s final season in MotoGP, with South African outlets linking him to a move to BMW’s factory World Superbike squad for 2027. Nothing about Silverstone suggested a rider coasting toward the exit.
He now turns to Aragon, the next round of the championship, still chasing the top ten he sits just four points outside.
📸 Images via Red Bull KTM
