KTM seems… ready to race, as the brand’s motto says and even Brad Binder assured today before the start of the last MotoGP pre-season tests. The South African once again addressed the potential of the bike and the point where the team is in terms of preparation, saying that there are still some things to test in order to be better prepared, although everything is currently on track.
In statements to journalists in Qatar, the rider began by talking about the latest tests in Malaysia: ‘For me, the position or the time [made in Sepang] does not reflect our speed at all. I made my fastest lap in the morning with the riding height device on, and then in the afternoon the story was different: the track was greasy, it was hot, it wasn’t the same and I improved my time. There is definitely potential, I would say. These two days will be very similar every year for us. Tomorrow there is no need to do a time trial, we have to try to put things together to have an idea of where we are, we have to put everything together in time for the GP’.
If he has an idea of what works with what, the South African was clear: ‘Of course we left Sepang with a better understanding of our different combinations and not only that, but there is definitely still a lot to try and that’s what tomorrow is for, and the day after we can play with smaller things, find something more based on the setup and get more comfortable instead of throwing parts away’, before continuing:
– For us, the work will be with different combinations, I think we have already tried them all, everything we are trying now, but you know, when you put different things together, it changes completely, so we have to see where we are first and then we will see where we are in terms of speed on Tuesday.
As for the deadline to test everything, Binder seems satisfied: ‘Actually, we’re doing fine. Maybe I can say we’re satisfied, because we’re usually the last ones to hit the track until the last minute to try to fit things in, and we were a bit like that in Sepang, to be honest, but we came here to try to understand things much better.’
