Brad Binder has a weekend to forget at the Japan Grand Prix

Red Bull KTM man only has six MotoGP races before heading for WorldSBK in 2027. With his MotoGP career coming to an end soon, Brad Binder had a weekend to forget at the Japan Grand Prix. The Red Bull KTM rider did save some face by finishing 11th in the main race on Sunday after a terrible Saturday, but he was hoping for better showing in Motegi. He is still 13th in the championship and with only six rounds remaining this season, time is running out to improve on his position before he sets sail for the World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK) next year. Binder qualified in 17th place and finished dead last in 18th place in the sprint race in Japan after running off the track with four laps to go and serving a long lap penalty for exceeding track limits. Brad Binder disappointed “The race was quite okay. We toned everything down to preserve the tire but, in the end, I think we could have done more distance on it,” Binder told the KTM website. “Not a great Japan, and we were expecting better but I think I ruined it a bit when I threw myself down the road in Q1. It made the rest of the weekend more challenging. Onto the next one.” Binder has little time to lick his wounds as MotoGP heads to the Mandalika street circuit in Indonesia this weekend for the second part of the double header. The riders will on the that side of the globe after Indonesia for the rounds in Australia and Malaysia before the season’s last three races in Qatar, Portugal and Valencia. Marquez closes gap The premier class title race is on a knife’s edge after Marc Marquez took the chequered flag twice in Japan. The seven-time champion moved up to 331 points, only two behind 2024 champion Jorge Martin (333). The pair have put daylight between them and third-placed Marco Bezzecchi (284). Ruché Moodley also had a weekend to forget at Motegi. The teenager finished the Moto3 race 22nd and last and still only has a solitary point to show for his 2026 efforts.