Brad Binder stunned by brutal tyre wear at Sachsenring MotoGP GP
Brad Binder’s Sachsenring weekend ended in bewilderment after the South African’s rear tyre vanished in a puff of smoke on the final laps of the MotoGP Grand Prix.
On 18 June, Binder limped across the Sachsenring finish line in 10th place, his KTM RC16’s rear tyre shredded beyond recovery. He had started 14th on the grid after a rookie’s penalty promoted him one spot. The 30-lap race saw him sandwiched between Honda’s Luca Marini and Diogo Moreira for much of the afternoon before KTM team-mate Enea Bastianini sliced past with three laps to go. A late drop-back from Jack Miller’s Yamaha handed Binder the final point.
Brad Binder never expected to burn through a rear tyre so fast at the Sachsenring. He crossed the line 10th, his face a picture of disbelief.
“I thought I’d been gentle on the rear,” Binder told Speedweek after the flag. “I expected to pick up the pace towards the end, but with two laps to go it went from bad to worse. At first I thought I’d run out of fuel, or the engine had cut, or the tyre had punctured. Then I realised the tyre was simply dead.”
Binder’s race had been unremarkable until the final sector. He spent most of the afternoon tucked between Marini and Moreira, unable to find a gap on the KTM. Only Miller’s late slide up the order spared him a lower finish.
Brad Binder’s tyre wear has long been the worst in the field. He admitted as much after the race.
“I’ve been top of the table in tyre wear for years, even though I don’t want to be,” Binder said. “That’s the worst bit: I was riding like a Sunday spin and still destroyed the rear tyre. That wasn’t good.”
The 10th-place finish leaves Binder 13th in the world championship with 64 points at the halfway mark. His contract situation for 2027 remains unresolved, adding pressure to fix the RC16’s tyre puzzle before the summer break.
Brad Binder’s KTM has struggled with rear-tyre durability all season. The Sachsenring GP laid the problem bare in front of the world feed.
“At first I suspected a technical problem,” Binder said. “I’ve never experienced such severe wear on the edge of the tyre before.” The Austrian manufacturer now faces urgent bench work to stiffen the carcass or reshape the load distribution before the next flyaway.
Brad Binder’s team must act fast to stop the rear-tyre haemorrhage.
KTM’s next stop is the British GP at Silverstone on 1 July. Binder will line up on the grid aiming to erase the Sachsenring frustration. He knows the RC16 can fight at the front-he just needs the rubber to last the distance.