News24.com | WATCH | SA's Brad Binder steals the MotoGP show in Spain

• Brad Binder rode an impeccable race to finish in the Spanish MotoGP race.
• Binder led for most of the race, but was passed by Franco Bagnaia on Lap 20/24.
• With the result, Binder is now third in the 2023 MotoGP standings.

Brad Binder captured the hearts and imaginations of MotoGP fans with his stellar performance at the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix in Jerez by finishing second.

The South African, starting the race in fourth, leapt to the front when the lights went out and led as the group of bikes came out of Turn 1.

Binder battled for the lead with Red Bull KTM teammate Jack Miller, but the duo eventually had to settle for second and third behind Ducati's defending champion, Franco Bagnaia.

"Today was fantastic to finish a main race again - the last two I messed up," Binder said.

"So happy to have gotten a solid podium today. It was nice to be out front and lead the race, but I think I cooked it a bit with three or four laps to go. Thank you to my team (and) thank you to everybody for your support. We try again next week."

Battle for the lead

Coming out of Turn 1 on the opening lap, Binder and Miller led the race and eked out a small gap to the riders behind them.

But on Lap 2, Miller made a move for the lead, and maintained it for the next couple of laps.

However, Binder would never sit back and gift a possible win to his teammate. On the final corner of Lap 4, Binder sent his bike down the inside of Miller, and did not relinquish the lead again until Bagnaia passed him on Lap 20/24.

By Lap 18, Bagnaia had cleared Miller and set off to catch Binder. The gap between the two at the time was 0.762 seconds.

However, having 'overcooked' his tyres earlier in the race, Binder had to manage the final laps to avoid overexerting his bike and rubber.

Unfortunately for the South African, it meant that he could not push as much as he would have liked, and the 0.7sec gap to Bagnaia was one of the biggest in the entire race among the top riders.

Though Binder came home in second place, the 20 points he scored were enough to put him on 62 points and into third in the 2023 MotoGP standings behind Bagnaia (87 points) and Marco Bezzecchi (65 points).