Brad Binder’s Qatar GP was so much more than the Red Bull KTM rider was expecting having ended his first race of 2022 on the podium in second.

A lightning start saw the South African blitz through the leading pack, from seventh on the grid to third at the first corner. Once firmly in the front group, Binder held fast. Marc Marquez was the first target, with the KTM dispatching the Honda six laps in to sit second until the Ducati-powered Enea Bastianini arrived.

“I pushed from the beginning to the end,” Binder admitted. "When Enea came past me I had nothing for him.”

The 26-year-old looked to settle for third as the second half unfolded but after race-long-leader Pol Espargaro also succumbed to the Gresini rider’s determination, opportunity presented itself and he was quick to capitalise. Advancing to second, he held the position to the chequered flag collecting 20 points at a track the Austrian manufacturer had previously failed to finish higher than eighth.

“Yeah, the start was insane,” Binder exclaimed after the podium. “I knew that we had been getting good starts all year, well the whole of last year, but tonight's was a little bit extra!

“When I started shifting the gears and I started to jump the row in front of me, I thought 'That's perfect'. To slide into turn one in third place was perfect. I was able to really just stay calm and try and follow the boys out front at the beginning. Careful to protect the tyres a little bit because we knew it was going to be a bit on the limits, especially the rear here.

“I tried my best just to not overdo it or make any mistakes. So hats off to both the guys here [Espargaro and Bastianini], they did an incredible job. It was difficult. The last two laps I tried so hard to catch up but, not quite enough!

“Today was I think one of the cleanest races I've ever done in MotoGP so I'm so happy about that.

“Qatar is normally a bogey track for us,” he continued. “So if you'd told us we'd get a podium here, last year I think we'd all say, ‘you're lying!’

“I found out we're maybe a little bit too cautious,” he explained of the pre-race set-up. “Well, a little bit too low on the TC in some places and I wasn't able to get the drive I needed. But obviously in the race you can't really change it, so when I noticed that I was thinking 'Ah, I wish I'd figured that out earlier'.

“There's a couple areas in the race where we can improve. I got such an amazing team behind me, to be starting here, at this rate is incredible. From here, we’ve just got to stay focused, keep working. Our package is still relatively new and I think we still have a way to go. So yeah, feeling confident.”

While podium pace is an impressive start to the season, Binder’s year hadn’t always looked to be going in the right direction.

“It's true that in Sepang I didn't leave there happy at all,” he said of winter testing. “I wasn't quite sure what was going on but once the guys had time to really study the data and everything with our new package, they understood exactly what we needed to fix our issues. As soon as we got to Mandalika they solved our problem straightaway.

“Everything's still quite new for us so I think there's still a way to go and we need to do a bit more testing to really get the full potential of our package. But in general, I can't thank KTM enough. This is a track that's super difficult for us and it's unbelievable to think we're on the podium here, it's nice.

“I want to say yes but I don't want to jinx anything,” he said of the season’s potential trajectory. "I really do believe that we have got what it takes to run at the top, week in and week out. Our bike is working incredibly well and more than anything I'm so confident with the front end. I know there's improvements we can make on the rear and when we do, I think it's going to give us a really, really strong package.”

So what’s made the difference compared to the 2021 RC16?

“The bike turns!” he answered simply. “Normally, especially last year, unless we were braking really hard we really struggled to get the front to start coming around on lean angle. Whereas now I can kind of release the front brake and just roll with a lot more corner speed. So it made such a huge difference and it gives you so much more confidence because you don't have to be completely on the limits on the brakes every corner. I'm so happy, they made such a good step for us and I'm looking forward to seeing how the season pans out for us.

“If we take our base setting we used to run, to what we're using now, it's a complete different motorbike,” he continued. “So it's clear it's working better and I'm more comfortable with it. I think it gives us the opportunity to, especially when we have no grip or things aren't perfect or we're struggling a little bit, we have more margin so we don't need a ride so on the limit. I'm really happy with the way the bike’s working. I think our bike’s really solid at the moment.

“Last year there are times where I felt like I could have done much better than I did. But to be honest, today, my bike was working incredibly well. I think there's still more we can get out of this package for sure but the general feeling on the bike, I haven't done a race distance where I felt so comfortable from beginning to end. So hats off to the guys who've done an unbelievable job. We're just gonna have to wait and see further down the line and hopefully we can keep improving.”

While Binder is confident of his and the KTM’s potential he’s keeping things calmly realistic, at least for now.

“It's one race. It's still early days. I think we have a lot of completely different tracks we need to go to and completely different scenarios we're going to face in the future. So we need to keep our feet on the ground and keep working. I think we're far from where we need to be still and just gonna keep grinding until we get there.”

One bonus of Sunday’s podium was the support he was able to enjoy, after two years without family and friends trackside due to the pandemic.

“It was an amazing feeling to look down on the podium and see my whole family,” he admitted with a smile. “It was so cool. I had my mom, dad, my girlfriend, my cousin. Had a lot of Binders down there! So cool to see the fam. here. It's all thanks to them at the end of the day. It's all their hard work that got me to where I am today."