1610 RF final

Younger brother, Darryn, joined Brad in the
MotoGP paddock racing in the Redbull rookies
cup, and Brad was always around to give some
words of advise.
He finished 11 of the 18 races in the points
and picked up his first ever GP podium at
the Sachsenring in Germany, 2nd place
just behind good mate Jack Miller. His
next podium would come six races later at
Motegi in Jan, this time 3rd place.
Brad was dicing at the sharp end of
the field week in and week out and his
performances caught the attention of a
number of top teams in the paddock.
For the 2015 season, Brad signed for
his dream team. The Red Bull KTM Ajo setup
were able to beat off the competition to
earn Brad’s signature, and his adventure
with the three-time championshipwinning
outfit brought him four
podiums in 2015.
On his new bike, Brad took
another step forward and started
to get better results, regularly
placing in the Top 5 and claiming
four podiums - enjoying an
excellent final stretch of the year.
In his first season with Red Bull KTM Ajo he
finished sixth in the World Championship
with 159 points. That made him one of the
title favourites heading into 2016.
He filled the gap left by the team’s World
Championship runner-up, Miguel Oliveira,
and at the opening race in Qatar was
already one of the strong candidates for the
title. It was at the Spanish Grand Prix, after
three consecutive podium finishes, that
Brad attracted worldwide attention, taking
his first win after starting from 35th position.
Who could forget that race. It was history
in the making as Brad became the first
South African to win a motorcycle Grand
Prix since Jon Ekerold won the 1981 Italian
motorcycle Grand Prix.
Brad was proclaimed Moto3 World
Champion at Aragon with four races still
remaining, after an epic battle which saw
him end of 2nd behind Navarro. His record
of 5 wins and a further 6 podiums went
unmatched by any of his rivals, and he is
First Grand Prix podium came in 2014 at the
Germany GP at Sachsenring – Second position.
40 RIDEFAST MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2016