Brad Binder's worst MotoGP season has been followed by a major shake-up, as employer KTM enforced the second crew chief change of his premier-class career.
Binder had taken his first win as a rookie in 2020 with Sergio Verbena by his side, but was reunited with Andres Madrid - whom he'd had a ton of success with in the lower classes - the following season.
But after several good campaigns came a 2025 of being roundly outshone by Pedro Acosta, which included a brutal 0-22 qualifying head-to-head versus the Spanish sophomore.
"I feel like I can do a lot better than I did. Things just didn't quite gel this season. Super disappointed to finish the season where I did in the championship," said Binder, who placed 11th, having finished in the top six in the four campaigns prior.
"I feel like we made some small improvements in the end and I was getting a bit faster. However, still not competitive. Still got some work to do."
And with that disappointing season came an emotional shake-up, with Madrid separated from Binder (and instead placed by Enea Bastianini's side at Tech3).
"I've been working with Andres since 2015. It's been many, many years," Binder said. "He's been my right-hand man the whole time.
"Whenever things are going well, he's there. When I'm f***ing angry, I moan at him. He's like a brother to me. I'm really going to miss Andres.
"But luckily he's only going next door. Not too far. I need to say thank you to him for all that he's done for me over the years, for sure.
"He's been a legend. I'm definitely going to miss the guy."
Make no mistake: separating a rider/crew-chief combination as finely-tuned as this is a Hail Mary. Synergy between the two is at a premium in MotoGP, though KTM seemed to feel in the Binder/Madrid case there was too much synergy.
KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer confirmed to Speedweek that "not everyone was happy" with the reshuffle.
"We came to the conclusion that with Brad we needed a change - because there we kept making the same mistakes. Not in the sense of the tech, the bikes, but strategy. When you ride out, who you ride out behind, with which tyres - these are also important points," Beirer said.
"Brad and Andres became good friends over the years, a perfect team for one another. But that also meant many things weren't being discussed anymore. There were no disputes, but a great routine instead - and we wanted to break that up."
KTM presumably won't have done it just for anybody. Madrid's replacement for Binder, Phil Marron, was one of the most sought-after crew chiefs on the market, by virtue of his outrageous success in partnership with Toprak Razgatlioglu over in World Superbikes.
There was a reported desire from Razgatlioglu to bring him over to MotoGP, but it was nixed. BMW was seemingly planning to keep hold of him to pair him up with star signing Miguel Oliveira, but couldn't. Even at KTM itself there was thought to be an interest from Tech3.
So Marron is a big enough name to make the bet with, and first contact with Binder in the post-season test at Valencia was a positive one.
"The day went really seamlessly, even though we had basically a half-day [due to weather] we managed to squash in everything we needed to try," Binder said.
"I enjoyed working with him."
But it is important not to overstate the significance of a change like this as a a predictor of competitive improvement.
When things aren't going right, the 'change crew chief' button is one MotoGP factories and riders often turn to in the hope of a vibe shift, but there is very, very little recent evidence that such changes can be a primary driver of a major competitive turnaround.
This is laid particularly bare if you take every instance of a full-time crew chief change for a rider (who did not also change the brand of the bike they are riding) and check whether it correlated - 'correlation' rather than 'causation' being the operative word - with a major speed upturn.
2020
Valentino Rossi (Galbusera to Munoz) - no
2021
Brad Binder (Verbena to Madrid) - yes
Maverick Vinales (Garcia to Galbusera) - no
Miguel Oliveira (Coulton to Trevathan) - no
Alex Marquez (Aurin to Bourguignon) - no
2022
Franco Morbidelli (Forcada to Primmer) - no
Luca Marini (Ferracioli to Munoz) - yes
2023
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Giovanotti to Carchedi) - yes
Takaaki Nakagami (Guidotti to Nohles) - no
Enea Bastianini (Giribuola to Rigamonti) - no
Maverick Vinales (Mattarollo to Cazeaux) - yes
Johann Zarco (Rigamonti to Branchini) - yes
2024
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Carchedi to Munoz) - no
Joan Mir (Guidotti to Hernandez) - no
Augusto Fernandez (Merhand to Giribuola) - no
2025
Marc Marquez (Carchedi to Rigamonti) - yes
Franco Morbidelli (Branchini to Flamigni) - no
Alex Rins (Primmer to Munoz) - no
Luca Marini (Guidotti to Pupulin) - yes
How much of an impact did pairing up Joan Mir with the most accomplished crew chief of MotoGP's previous decade really make? How much did Maverick Vinales lurching from one crew chief to another (he had also swapped Ramon Forcada for Esteban Garcia earlier at Yamaha) really change?
Most of the success stories above have a non-crew-chief explanation for the upturn that is a more likely cause.
Binder going faster after switching from Verbena to Madrid could be your usual sophomore-season improvement. Ditto for Luca Marini within the Ducati structure, and maybe Fabio Di Giannantonio, too. (His uptick with Frankie Carchedi was massive in the end, but was preceded by an indifferent start to the season - and his first-year crew chief Donatello Giovanotti has since anyway proven his credentials alongside Alex Marquez).
And Marc Marquez's improvement in going from Carchedi to Marco Rigamonti is very clearly primarily a consequence of an upgrade in bike spec and more time on the Ducati.
So, the true crew chief change success stories? Maybe Aprilia pairing up Vinales with Jose Manuel Cazeaux (who followed Vinales to KTM), maybe Johann Zarco linking up with Massimo Branchini at Pramac, maybe Marini getting Christian Pupulin at Honda (though, again, it was also explained through Marini having more time on a better Honda).
No cure-all in the list. No incredible transformation. The evidence is that other factors matter more - and that it's those that will decide whether Binder can rebuild his standing within KTM and the premier class.
