SA's Binder claims debut Moto3 win

Jerez - South African Brad Binder won the Spanish Moto3 Grand Prix for his first ever world championship success at Jerez de la Frontera on Sunday.

KTM's series leader charged through the pack to beat Italian teammate Nicolo Bulega and another Italian, Francesco Bagnaia, on a Mahindra.

Binder had to do it the hard way as he started from the back of the grid due to a penalty incurred for a technical issue on his bike.

In just two laps Binder had forced his way up from 35th to 15th, and he broke into the top 10 after just six laps.

Soon he was battling for a podium, moving into third on lap 14, and he took command on turn six on lap 18.

His eventual winning margin was 3.4sec as he extended his lead in the riders' standings to 15 points over Navarro.

Binder's success was the first for a South African in the world championship since Jon Ekerold in 1981 in the since disappeared 350cc category.

Moto3 results

1. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 41min 29.882sec, 2. Nicolo Bulega (ITA/KTM) at 3.336sec, 3. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Mahindra) 3.441, 4. Jorge Navarro (ESP/Honda) 3.513, 5. Jakub Kornfeil (CZE/Honda) 13.728, 6. Joan Mir (ESP/KTM) 14.933, 7. Romano Fenati (ITA/KTM) 13.993, 8. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Honda)14.052, 9. Jules Danilo (FRA/Honda) 14.409, 10. Philipp Oettl (GER/KTM) 14.588

Championship standings (after four races)

1. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 77 points, 2. Jorge Navarro (ESP/Honda) 62, 3. Romano Fenati (ITA/KTM) 47, 4. Nicolo Bulega (ITA/KTM) 36, 5. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Mahindra) 34, 6. Niccolo Antonelli (ITA/Honda) 31, 7. Enea Bastianini (ITA/Honda) 29, 8. Jakub Kornfeil (CZE/Honda) 29, 9. Khairul Idham Pawi (MAL/Honda) 27, 10. Philipp Oettl (GER/KTM) 27