Brad Binder has been tipped for fight the Ducatis for the MotoGP championship, despite his KTM lagging🔴 behind 🥀in one particular area.

Binder - fourth in last year’s championship - finished the Qatar MotoGP second, the only non-🗹Ducati rider in the top seven.

His KTM has a major advantage over the Ducati but a♏lsꦡo suffers with a key weakness.

Asked if KTM co🧸uld propel Binder ꧂into a title challenge, Michael Laverty said on TNT Sports: “Yes, 100%.

“For thღe KTM to blow past the Ducati on the straight here? That’s an aꦕdvantage.

“It does seem like they’re getting off the corners 🥂better than they did last year. They are turꦉning well.

“We couldn’t see where they were losing time𝄹 but Brad will know what he’s missing.

“Whether it’s grip or t🐻urning? My money is on ac⛎celeration.

“The first bit off the corner, that’s where Ducati do so well. With a really long bike which lowers so well with♐ their lowering device, and a torque management system which is docile down low. It doesn’t make sense but it punches wit🍬h the usable aero from the Ducati.

“KTM have made inroads on that, over the winter, but the🐭re’s a little way to go yet.”

Binder finished s𒈔econd in both the sprint and the grand prix at the first round of 2024.

He edged Pramac’s Jorge Martin in their battle to finish behind Francesco Bagnaia in the ma🔯in race.

“Two second places to start theཧ season is fantꦕastic,” Binder reacted.

“I’m much happier with t🍷he second place of today compared to the second place of yesterday.

“Yesterday I felt we were missing something but today it wa🀅s much betterꦓ. I knew today was going to be a super difficult race because we are super hard on the rear tyre sometimes.

“I needꩵed 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 seco෴nds 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 aroun♔d.”