JOHANNESBURG - If precedent is anything to go by, then a big season awaits South Africa's Brad Binder in this year's MotoGP.
Binder enters his second season in the elite category of motorcycling, and historically, it is this subsequent year that he rises to the occasion and achieves remarkable things. He did so in Moto3, and again in Moto2. The 25-year-old claimed the Rookie of the Year award last season, finishing 11th in the world riders' championship, storming to an impressive first GP win in the Czech Republic in the process.
It won't be easy though.
His KTM this year looks a bit squirrelly, and underperformed a fortnight ago in the only pre-season testing session. Binder finished 17th in the Qatar test, one place removed from new teammate Spaniard Alex Marquez - 1.5 seconds behind front-runner Jack Miller of Australia. On Friday, Binder acknowledged these shortcomings, but insisted that both team and riders remained confident that they would push for multiple podiums this year.
Said Binder: "Pre-season has been great as far as the training and preparations go, though we were meant to start our first test in Japan at the beginning of February.
"That got cancelled," he continued, "and moved to a date that was only a couple of weeks ago in Qatar, so we missed out on a few days of testing there. Unfortunately, it has been tough for us. The start has not been ideal or as we expected. We just need to stay focused and it is now the time where we could either work for first place or 15th place, but I am confident that we will get it right just in time.
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"The goal for me at the moment is that I really want to fight for a podium, every weekend would be fantastic," Binder revealed.
"If we could be racing for that front battle and keep on pushing, it will give us the opportunity to learn much more and push on a little bit from there. I think we have everything we need to really be there. It's just we need to try to put all the small things together and go from there."
The elder Binder starts that push today at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar, the same track where their pre-season testing went so awry. As revealed by race manager Mike Leitner some weeks ago, it is not a track that KTM are overly fond of. They will have to brush off any such notions quickly though, as the second GP will also be held at the same venue.
Darryn Binder, meanwhile, will be competing in his seventh season of Moto3. Binder junior is no longer with KTM, having signed with Petronas Sprinta Racing for the upcoming season. In previous years there have been flashes of his talent - he too won his first race last season in Spain - and it is expected that with his new team, Darryn has a real opportunity to challenge for the title. Petronas had an impressive pre-season testing session, with many now considering them to be one of the favourites in 2021.
The Moto3 race is scheduled to start at 3.45pm today, while the main event will line-up on the grid for 7pm lights out.