(CNN)Brad Binder had a front row seat to one of the most horrifying crashes motorsport has ever seen at this weekend’s Austrian MotoGP.
The South African was just behind Johann Zarco’s Ducati when it collided with Franco Morbidelli’s Yamaha as the riders raced at full throttle. Zarco and Morbidelli were thrown through the air while their motorcycles continued, becoming potentially deadly projectiles.
For both bikes to miss out on Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi and Maverick Viñales was as wonderful as it was extraordinary. Rossi later admitted that the ‘saint of motorcyclists’ must have been watching over him and his teammate.
“I think the happiest man in the world right now is Valentino Rossi,” Binder told CNN Sport. The 25-year-old KTM rider shudders when he thinks about what could have happened.
“Honestly, I prefer not to even think about it,” he admits. “You know the bikes are probably still going at over 200km/h and a 185kg bike is flying at almost 200km/h. If that hits someone, we all know how that could end up. ”
Remarkably, both Zarco and Morbidelli were able to walk away from the incident, although the Ducati rider has since told L’Equipe he will have surgery later this week for a broken wrist.
Binder says the risks of racing are always there.
“It’s a danger that everyone knows that we’re really just trying to keep in mind and not think about. Unfortunately, the only way to get the job done is to approach things this way. If you’re worried about risks and the things that might happen, I don’t think you could ever do this job for a living.
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Coaster Week
Binder finished fourth after the red flag restart, an impressive performance from 17th on the grid. It capped the end of a rollercoaster week for the man, who was born in Potchefstroom in South Africa’s North West Province.
Just seven days earlier, Binder became the first South African ever to win a premier class race at the Czech Republic GP in Brno, and was only riding in MotoGP for the third time.
The win was also KTM’s first ever MotoGP win and Binder became the first rookie to win a race since Marc Marquez’s first win at the 2013 American GP.
“It was absolutely fantastic,” he says. “I don’t think we expected it so early, especially with only my third Grand Prix. It was honestly a dream come true, something you’ve been working toward throughout your motorcycle racing career.”
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rugby and cricket
Binder and his family moved to Krugersdorp, just outside Johannesburg, when he was 10 years old. He admits motorsport is not typical of South Africa.
“When you think of sport and South Africa, you probably think of rugby and cricket or something like that,” he said.
“When I was younger and started racing in South Africa it was a lot busier, there was a lot of racing there and a lot of support but things died down a bit but it’s slowly coming back.”
The rookie’s success was well received at home.
“It’s really cool because the news at home really exploded,” he says. “I have to say South Africans are always fantastic at supporting everyone in sport and especially their own so it was great to see all the support I’ve had.”
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homesickness
Covid-19 has presented an additional challenge for Binder and his younger brother Darryn, who competes in the Moto3 class.
“At the moment it is really difficult to close the borders with South Africa,” explains Binder.
“It’s almost impossible for us to go home. We have two weeks off after racing this weekend and it would have been great if we could have shot home and caught up with friends and family for a week and then come back. But unfortunately that’s the way things are at the moment, we’re just going to stay here.”
He admits to being a little homesick.
“South Africa in general is an amazing place for sure. The most important thing about South Africa, I don’t really know how to explain it, it’s just my home, you know? It’s this place that I go to and I know exactly how it all works.
“It’s just amazing to go back and go to the places I grew up and see all your friends and stuff, the stuff I’ve been doing my whole life. It’s all of those things. I hope everything will go back to normal soon.”
However, life on the road is nothing new for the Binder brothers.
“We both spend most of our time in Europe and have been together since 2014,” he says.
The elder Binder has been racing in Europe since 2011, winning the 2016 Moto3 title and finishing a close second to Alex Marquez in last year’s Moto2 championship.
When not competing he is often honing his skills in Spain.
“The good thing about Spain is that there are many different tracks and it’s really good for training,” he added.
“The weather is good too. Spain is always a place I try to return to when I can’t go home.”
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Another animal
Despite his nine years of racing experience, Binder admits the move into MotoGP was daunting.
“A MotoGP bike is a very different beast than a Moto2 bike, you have more than double the horsepower and the bike is even lighter so it’s really difficult to understand at first. Every time I get on the bike I feel more and more comfortable,” he says.
This year’s KTM looks to be an impressive package and a serious challenger to the other factory teams. The arrival of Marc Marquez’s former Honda teammate, Dani Pedrosa, as a test rider is widely credited with turning the team into contenders.
“I actually rode the 2019 bike late last year,” says Binder. “When I got on the 2020 bike in Malaysia you could feel it was a big step forward, much, much better and also much easier to ride. KTM worked flat out, Dani did an incredible job too.”
Binder sees a threat to the rest of the field that this upward trend will continue.
“It’s great to see these big strides forward and in general I think there’s more to come,” he added.
For now, the exiled Binder is focused on building on his early successes in what was the strangest of MotoGP seasons.
A return visit home would certainly be welcome, but he admits he has a little taste of South Africa with him.
“I try to keep some biltong on me – but it’s not always easy to find!”
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