Brad Binder: Who Was the Last Southern African to Challenge for World Rider’s Championship?

• Brad Binder had an impressive start to the 2024 MotoGP with second place in Qatar
• His factory KTM was the only other manufacturer in a top five dominated by Ducati
• The South African finished fourth in last year's standings and last won a race in 2021

Southern Africa's love of motorsport is an affair that dates back decades.

Whether on four or two wheels, fields across the country have echoed with the sound of pistons pushing metal and rubber to their limits for generations.

Brad Binder has started his fifth MotoGP season well, but he will have an uphill battle to earn podiums in a season expected to be a stroll for the Ducati riders.

The KTM's were not expected to impress, which has given the team confidence ahead of the opening races of the season. The Citizen quoted Binder as saying:

Ranking the 10 best attacking trios in football history

Football

"I thought I might have had a bit to catch up and take the lead but every time I got a little closer then the gap stretched again. I think winning again is only a matter of time.”

The 28-year-old has a Moto3 championship under his belt, but only one man from the same geographical area has topped the ultimate podium of two-wheeled perfection.

Sports Brief chronicles the exploits of those who, together with their motorcycles, have reached international glory.

Southern African motorcycle champions

4. Hudson Kennaugh and Steven Odendaal

Winning any championship outside of your home country is a great achievement. Hudson Kennaugh won the British Superbike Championship Evo class in 2010, which was a stock class featuring equal setups.

2016 was a good year for South Africa, as that year Binder won the Moto3 title, Johannesburg's Steven Odendaal took the Moto2 crown. Still only 31, Odendaal races in the Supersport World Championship.

10 of the best World Cup goal celebrations in the history of the competition

Football

3. Jonathan Ekerold

The Johannesburg native was one of the few men to win world championship races as a private entrant with no backing from a manufacturer.

Ekerold won the 1980 350cc championship on the last lap of the last race, as retold by Franschhoek Motor Museum. Needing to pass title rival Anton Mang to claim the championship, he put together a blistering lap around the Nürburgring to earn a dramatic final-corner victory.

2. Hugh Ballington

'Kork' won back-to-back double world Championships in the 250cc and 350cc divisions in 1978 and 1979. Born in what is now Harare, he spent most of his life in Natal in between touring the world on two wheels.

In those years, it was common for riders to race in multiple classes. In those four 13-race seasons, he amassed 30 podiums, 22 of them on the top step, all earned on a Kawasaki KR.

Ranking the 15 best pole vaulters in the world right now

Other Sports

1. Gary Hocking

The only African representative to win a 500cc World Championship, he did so under the banner of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Although born in Wales, Hocking grew up in what is now Zimbabwe.

He began his career at age 21 in 1958 and by 1960 was piloting the famed MV Agusta. In 1961, he stormed to both the 350cc and 500cc titles, winning seven of the 11 500cc World Championship races.

However, 1962 would be a tragic year, as 1961's 125cc champion, Tom Pillis, would perish at the Isle of Mann TT. Having moved to automobile racing following the incident, Speedweek recalls how Hocking would sadly be killed in an accident at the Westmead Circuit, just outside Durban. He was just 25 years old.

Brad Binder's 2023 MotoGP finish

Sports Brief previously reported on Binder's second-place finish near the beginning of the 2023 season.

Who are the 10 best black fighters in the world currently?

UFC

The South African had to settle for the second step in a Spanish Grand Prix that went to the last corner.

Ducati's Francesco Bagnaia denied the KTM rider in what would become a prophetic theme down the line.