Brad Binder fought hard to shake off his sprint race disappointment, as he improved from his 11th-place start to a seventh-place finish at the Argentine Grand Prix on Sunday.
Binder on 19 points now trails championship leader Marc Márquez by a massive 55 points, with just two races completed this season.
Despite some improvements from the opening weekend in Thailand, the Red Bull KTM team still struggled to keep up with the front-runners, continuing the same pattern from last season, which only saw them at their best when they were well outside the podium places.
It was a weekend that once again saw the Márquez brothers, Marc and Álex, dominate the front row, securing the first two podium places, with Franco Morbidelli closing out the final podium spot in yet another Ducati-dominated showdown.
The South African rider is seventh in the championship and will take confidence from having a seven-point gap over teammate Pedro Acosta, who currently occupies 10th position with 12 points after his first two races for the Austrian-based team.
“I’m happy because I gave absolutely everything I had from the first lap,” Binder said after the race. “I knew it would be tricky once we had our tyre drop, but I did my best and tried to make zero mistakes.”
Winner of the sprint race last time out at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit, the South African rider could not repeat his exploits, as contact with Morbidelli on the first lap ended his race prematurely. However, he made up for that in the main race, improving from 11th to seventh.
The 29-year-old added that he was pleased with some of the improvements he made, even though there are still areas that need work.
“Unfortunately, seventh was as good as it was going to be today. I am happy to get some points after what happened yesterday (sprint race).
“I had a decent enough start and tried to go with the guys. We are strong in braking and entry, but we need to find more grip on the edge of the rear tyre. Once we do that, life will get much easier for us.”