Rookie Brad Binder wins Brno MotoGP race

Binder was then a man on a mission. The South African cut through teammate Espargaro and then got by the latter’s brother on the Aprilia with ease, and soon he was right on the tailpipes of Quartararo. The Frenchman was a second off Morbidelli as that gap stayed pretty consistent in the opening few laps, hovering between 1 and 1.3 seconds. Pol Espargaro was getting impatient behind Zarco after losing out to the pole man, but after a failed attempt the lap before, the number 44 was through at Turn 3 on Lap 6 and immediately set sights on his teammate and Quartararo, and the battle for second soon became a double factory KTM vs Quartararo fight.

Binder was then through on El Diablo on Lap 9. Turn 3 the chosen place, Binder was slightly wide but the rookie made it stick and, then, Pol Espargaro was through. However, the Spaniard was wide at Turn 13 and lost the place, before huge drama then unfolded at Turn 1 on Lap 10.

Espargaro was wide at Turn 1, but not by much. Zarco, just behind, was on the inside line and as Espargaro swept back to get the run up through Turn 2, there was contact between the two. Zarco’s front wheel came in contact with Espargaro’s body and the KTM man was out – heartbreak for the latter as Race Direction began to look at the incident, later handing Zarco a long lap penalty. How costly could that be for Zarco?

There may have been heartbreak for one orange bike, but up the road, Binder wasn’t showing any signs of slowing up. With Binder past Quartararo, another Petronas Yamaha bike was about to feel the wrath. The 33 reeled in Morbidelli with ease and with nine laps left in Brno, Binder led a MotoGP race for the first time – but you wouldn’t have thought it. Immediately, Binder started to stride clear of Morbidelli and on the same lap, Zarco took the long lap penalty. And the Frenchman couldn’t have nailed it better, some spectacular riding saw Zarco sweep round the outside of Turn 7 like his tires were glued to the asphalt. An unreal and pinpoint piece of riding saw Zarco emerge just ahead of Quartararo as the latter clear hit tire troubles at the mid-point, with Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech3) starting to hunt him in.

Miguel Oliveira takes a wild spill

Up front, all eyes were on someone who was quickly making a name for himself just two and a half races into his MotoGP career. Morbidelli simply had no answer to Binder’s ridiculous pace and South Africa’s new sporting hero was leaving his more experienced competitors in his wake. With seven laps to go the gap was up to a second and a couple of laps later, the lead was 2.1. Was this really it for KTM?