It was a near perfect start to the MotoGP season for South Africa's Brad Binder by taking second at the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Potchefstroom-born Binder started fourth on the grid and quickly worked his way up to second, but he was overtaken by Jorge Martin.

It wasn't long before he regained the second position when he would stay for the remainder of the race.

The Italian rider, Pecco Bagnaia, won the race in 39:34.869, with Binder taking second place in just 1.329 seconds off the pace.

The Spaniard, Martin, rounded off the podium after finishing in third.

Binder also took second place in the sprint race on Saturday which was won by Martin.

Following his race, Binder, said he can't complain about his solid start to the season and he was happier with his second on Sunday.

“We can’t complain - two second places to start the season is fantastic,” said Binder.

“I’m much happier with the second place of today compared to the second place of yesterday. Yesterday I felt we were missing something but today it was much better. I knew today was going to be a super difficult race because we are super hard on the rear tyre sometimes.

“I needed to get it to the end so I was as clean as I could be. It was hard to stay composed because I could see Pecco was just there.

“It was like a carrot dangling and you just want to go for it. But I knew that if I attempted to push, I might catch up a bit but I would lose a couple of seconds in the last few laps.

“I had to be really clever. It was awesome battling Jorge and I had a lot of fun. Let’s see if we can improve a bit because it would be awesome to give these boys a fight next time around.”

The next stop will be Portimao for the Portugal GP that will take place on 24 March.

"Yesterday I felt we were missing something but today was so much better" ??? - @BradBinder_33

The @KTM_Racing rider can't complain with two second places in the season opener ????#QatarGP ???? pic.twitter.com/RxkKtOeGIL

— MotoGP™?? (@MotoGP) March 10, 2024

Morgan Piek OFM Sport