MotoGP began the rolling overseas stint of the 2025 calendar with the annual visit to Motegi. The 4.8km course with 14 turns is housed within the Mobility Resort complex and usually involves an unpredictable climate across the three days. Motegi has staged the Japanese Grand Prix since 2004 and been part of the MotoGP schedule since 1999, and in that time has become synonymous for the two ‘underpass’ sections as well as the high braking demands of the layout.
Brad Binder rode to P12 in the Sprint and after a fast crash in Q1 dented his hopes of a better qualification slot than P18.
The Japanese Grand Prix build-up now begins in earnest and the 24-lap race will start at 07.00 CEST and 14.00 local time.
Brad Binder 18th in qualification, 12th in the Sprint:
“Not too much to say really. On the start with all the carnage I got really hung out to dry and I was really lucky to escape all the mess. After that I tried to come through but it was super-difficult to overtake so many bikes. I managed to pass a couple of guys but I was battling with upright spin. We’ll have to make a plan for tomorrow.”
DARRYN BINDER #15 “This morning I made a little step forward and I had a little more pace than yesterday. Going into Q1 I felt quite good in the first run, improving again on this morning, but unfortunately in the second run I asked too much going into turn 10 and had a little crash. Anyway everything is good so let’s see how tomorrow goes!”
The Moto3 world championship visited Italy for the 2025 San Marino GP. The 16th race of the calendar, held at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, was the last round of the European leg of the season before heading east for a Pacific-Asia tour. Rookie racer Ruche Moodley, once again, flew the flag as the sole SA representative in the field. Moodley went into the race in a positive frame of mind.
“I know Misano from having competed here before, so I knew we’d have a good weekend,” said the teenager. And his optimism resulted in good lap times from the get-go. As a result, Ruche went into the first part of qualifying with confidence.
“I really enjoy riding the Moto3 bike here,” he said ahead of Q1. “There is a nice flow to the circuit with many fast corners that link together. In Moto3 we are full throttle through some of these corners. When you nail the lap here it is really satisfying.”
That confidence resulted in Moodley setting the quickest time of the session. This bought him a slot in the Q2 session. “I had a good run in Q1, finding clear track when I needed it and I managed to gain a slipstream at the perfect moment.”
The pole shootout in Q2 was a far more chaotic affair as no rider was keen to give rivals a slipstream. As a result, about half the field returned to pitlane without completing a lap. This caused a split in the field with Moodley choosing to stay on track.
“I made a small error on my ‘attack’ lap,” said the SA lad after the session, smiling as he rubbed shoulders with Formula One superstar Lando Norris. The McLaren title contender is a self-confessed MotoGP fan and visited the BOE Motorsport crew after qualifying. Moodley’s quickest time in Q2 was enough to net him 17th place on the starting grid. Moodley has previously admitted that he just isn’t aggressive enough during race starts, something he’d hope to change for the remainder of the year. His start at Misano is already showing that mindset shift. Ruche was up to 15th place by the time the 26-strong field was halfway through the opening lap.
“The race pace was incredible today. The front of the field was battling hard and still setting blisteringly quick laps times. This meant the pack strung out a bit from the early stages. I was having great battles with the guys around me. I’d gain a position or two, then get overtaken in the space of a single lap. It was great to battle with others and learn where I could be stronger.”
Moodley dropped down the order to 17th where he remained for a long spell, chasing those ahead as hard as he could. He managed to gain a place into 16th, one position ahead of his grid start, which was where the local lad crossed the finish line. He was just shy of a point’s finish.
“There are so many positives to take away from this weekend. I had the pace to make it into Q2 and gained places at the start of the race.
Meeting one of my racing heroes, Lando, was memorable. He is such a cool guy. I am really looking forward to the remainder of the season,” concluded Moodley.
“Unfortunately a difficult race for me today. I was missing some front-end feeling from the beginning of the race. I did my best to keep it up, trying to get as fast as possible but unfortunately the 23rd positions was the best I could do. It was an honor to ride with these colors today and I’m happy I manage to bring the bike back in this HomeGP for the team. Now looking forward to the oversea races!”
Brad Binder won considerable ground to finish 10th in the sixteenth round of 2025 MotoGP at Misano and bank points for Red Bull KTM Factory Racing. The South African started P16 on the grid to roar past the checkered flag in the top ten and bounced back from his DNF in the Saturday Sprint.
The high grip potential of Misano created fresh set-up demands for the Red Bull KTM quartet through Friday and Saturday and led to a qualifying position of P16 for Brad Binder.
There was renewed belief for the 27 laps on Sunday and the harder tire options necessary for the full race distance. Overnight rainfall meant the track was initially cooler and with damp patches in the morning but the conditions were warm and consistent by mid-afternoon. Brad gassed his way past rivals and dealt with a lack of optimal traction to grab 10th.
MotoGP now has a one-day IRTA test at Misano on Monday and then commences a Pan-Asia trek with races in Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia in the next five weeks. First-up is the trip to the Mobility Resort Motegi from September 26-28.
Brad Binder 10th and 11th in the championship standings:
“A really difficult race. It was hard to push-on from the beginning and there was a big difference between front and rear grip. Then there was a lot of chatter from 12 laps onwards and it was hard to stay up. Really tricky, and we didn’t expect that. In the end we could put together the weekend that we planned. It’s a good thing that we have a test here tomorrow so we can play around a little bit to understand the right way to go for the future.”
