Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider Brad Binder recently took some time during the mid-season break to head home to South Africa. He attempted to post the fastest time of the modern era on the much storied-Kyalami race track in Johannesburg.
Red Bull MotoGP™
Binder has had a meteoric rise through the ranks, debuting in Red Bull MotoGP™ Rookies Cup in 2009 and then stepping up to Moto3™ in 2011. He grabbed his first silverware in 2014 and claimed the 2016 World Title in his second term with Red Bull KTM Ajo (becoming South Africa’s first world champion in thirty-six years and just the third from his country).
From there, he graduated immediately to Moto2™ with the same team. After 15 Grand Prix wins in the Moto3™ and Moto2™ categories with the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad, he made the step up to MotoGP™ with Red Bull KTM Factory Racing in 2020. He then seized the team’s maiden victory in the premier class during his debut term on the KTM RC16, where he also achieved the status of ‘Rookie of the Year.’
One thing has been hanging over him through it all, but something to put his name on in his native South Africa: A big performance at Kyalami. In Superlap — the film you can watch in the player at the top of the page – Binder, with the help of an eclectic mix of characters, sets about going under 01:45.
LOCAL FLAVOUR
The name ‘Kyalami’ (broadly translated) means ‘My Home’ in Zulu, one of South Africa’s official languages, so it was just fitting that Brad does something spectacular at ‘home.’ Those were the thoughts of renowned comedian and host Jason Goliath anyway.
Driving a minibus taxi, Goliath infamously raced David Coulthard through the streets of Cape Town some years back. He has also spent some time in the co-driver seat with various high-profile drivers shooting for the series ‘Giving it Gears’, so his credentials in motorsport are solid. With the help of South Africa’s world champion rugby captain, Siya Kolisi, Goliath makes sure Brad doesn’t rest until he hits that target time.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF KYALAMI
The original Kyalami circuit was constructed in 1961 and soon established as the premier motorsport facility in Southern Africa. It wasn’t long before it became a regular Formula 1 venue and, in its golden era, was regarded as one of the ten best Grand Prix Circuits in the world. Kyalami hosted numerous international events on the original layout until 1988.
Some 18 rounds of the F1 World Championship were hosted at the circuit between 1967 and 1985, with the annual 9 Hour and 1000 km endurance races continuing from the circuit’s inception until 1988. After 1988 the circuit complex underwent various changes.
With the return of the Grand Prix in 1992 and 1993, a new section of the circuit was added, which housed the latest (and current) pit complex and main straight. This circuit version was 4.246 km long, with the central straight 15 meters wide and the rest of the circuit 12 meters wide.
It was so cool to ride this bike here. It is not quite the same one I’m riding at the moment, but super close and to go through turn one at this track is unique – there is nothing quite like it out there.
Source: Press release Red Bull
