Binder brothers aim to make a mark at Circuit of the Americas

The Binder brothers, Brad and Darryn, will be looking for consistency among the “chaos” of the opening Grands Prix of the MotoGP season as they head into the fourth race in Austin, Texas, this weekend.

For Brad, the grandly named Red Bull of the Americas at the Circuit of the Americas (Cota), will be a chance to maintain the pressure at the top of the MotoGP championship table, where he sits in second place on 38 points, seven behind Aleix Espargaro, the Spaniard who won his first Grand Prix in Argentina last weekend.

For Darryn, the challenge is to continue to learn and to pick up points in his attempt to emulate his brother in winning the MotoGP rookie of the year. It has been a scattered start to the 2022 season, with three different winners in three races. And with Marq Marquez, the eight-time world champion, cleared to race in Austin after his enforced absence due to a crash in Indonesia, the mix is going to get a lot spicier.

“It’s chaos,” said Brad Binder of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. “Some tracks will be better for some manufacturers and others will be better for other brands. It’s going to be a pretty exciting year.

“It’s an exciting situation for all of us, because that’s an objective for KTM, obviously,” Binder told Motorcycle Sports this week. “It’s a good time for us, we need to enjoy the good days and somehow keep our feet on the ground because there are always hard days ahead. There are three podiums with all the different riders and I expect a lot of changes over the course of the season so we will keep our feet on the ground and bring home as many points as possible every weekend.

“[Argentina] was a weekend where I expected more but we have to keep in mind that we started in 11th position and managed sixth, so it was a decent comeback. I wanted more and I expected more but I didn’t have the pace [on Sunday]. Hats-off to the team because it was not an easy GP and we all did a great job considering we only had Saturday to prepare.

“We have some good points in the bag and brought the bike home again. There is an opportunity now to apply what I learned from this race and go even better at Cota.”

For Darryn, each race is another step in his MotoGP education as he comes to terms with the array of electronics and the power of his Yamaha MotoGP bike.

“I was really happy with how things went [in Argentina],” he said. “I felt like I made a good step in warm-up, but unfortunately in the race, I wasn’t able to keep the same feeling. It was a really difficult race for me.

“I tried everything to keep a good rhythm and stay with the guys, but at the end of the race I was really struggling to keep the same pace as the other guys. I felt like the conditions were really different compared to this morning and the bike behaved a bit differently. Anyway, it was a good learning experience.”

Darryn has finished higher than his starting spot on the grid in all three races this season. In Qatar he started 22nd and ended in 16th, in Indonesia he won his first MotoGP points with 10th after romping through the field from 22nd, and in Argentina made up seven places from 25th for 18th.

“If I had to finish this year in a great way, it would be rookie of the year,” the WithU Yamaha rider told MotoGP.com. “That would be the ultimate goal. That would be a really great season.”