With two rounds remaining, Brad Binder currently holds fifth place in the MotoGP World Championship. While the top four are out of reach, the Red Bull KTM rider still faces competition for his current position.
The South African is enthusiastic and optimistic about this weekend’s Malaysian GP, saying: ‘I’m looking forward to getting back on the bike here, for sure. The testing at the beginning of the season was quite positive, we had pretty good pace. The ultimate lap time wasn’t quite up to where we needed to be, but the pace seemed pretty decent, so I think we’ll be okay. I’m looking forward to getting started here, and I really just want to try and work super hard from Free Practice 1 to try and make the race the best possible’.
Commenting on how the KTM RC16 has changed since the February tests in Malaysia, Binder explained: ‘A lot. Compared to when we were last year, for sure the set-up and stuff is quite different. So, it’s going to be really good to take this opportunity to have a good look at what we have accomplished. But, all in all, I think we could be in for a good weekend here. I think it’sa circuit that can go really well for us. So, I just really want to try and do the best I can obviously, not worry too much about everything else, and just put my down’.
Recently, KTM introduced a new chassis, which the #33 sees as beneficial: ‘We got a different chassis, and it’s got some strong areas, for sure. It clearly turns a little bit better than our previous one, so that’s always a bonus because if you can turn better, you can pick up the bike earlie. So, it’s definitely got some positives’.