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• South African rider Brad Binder is competing in his first season in MotoGP.
• The KTM rookie won his first race at the third attempt and is currently fourth in the riders' standings.
• This weekend's race is the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano.
South African MotoGP rider Brad Binder admitted his focus is on taming the premier class bike each race weekend and not on the title race.
The KTM rookie sits fourth in the standings after winning his first race in the Czech Republic after only three events. Fabio Quartararo leads Binder by 21 points heading into this weekend's San Marino GP.
Reigning champion Marc Marquez is out injured for the rest of the season following a fracture to his arm in the opening race in Jerez. This has opened up the championship for several riders to stake their claim at the title.
Autosport reported that Binder doesn't consider himself a title contender. "For me, it's just [taking things] race by race, [I've] got to take everything as it comes," he told the motorsport publication.
"It's just insane. If you look at now, the podium is different every week and [there are] riders up, some riders down, problems for some, good weekend for others."
Another KTM rider Miguel Oliveira won the last race in Austria and was the fourth different winner in the last four races and the third first-time winner this season after Quartararo and Brad Binder.
The 25-year-old says at each race he struggles to find a good rhythm with the bike. The MotoGP bikes are huge step up from the Moto2 machine Binder was riding last year. A MotoGP bike is heavier and has over 200kW.
"But it's one thing I really need to keep in mind, every time I go to a new track, it's so difficult the first couple of days to try and adapt and get used to the bike," he said.
Last year's San Marino GP was won by Marquez after a last lap duel with Quartararo. The Frenchman will look to win at the iconic track and stand one step higher on the podium than he did in 2019.
The action gets underway on Friday with practice, with the race at 14:00 on Sunday 13, September.
Read the original story here.
Compiled by Sean Parker
