Brad Binder finished the first day in Japan as the fastest man on track, setting the best lap of the Motegi circuit.
The South African rider thus managed to qualify directly for Q2 and was very happy to have found something extra in his bike, after a challenging morning in Japanese territory:
– Positive day today, everything went well. We started a bit off this morning and had to find something extra to get things right, especially the engine brake. My guys did an excellent job getting that sorted for me. Overall, I feel very good, it’s nice to end the first day on a positive note and the most important thing is that we are in Q2 tomorrow.
The #33 also added in the debrief after the end of the day on track, that the new frame provided by KTM helped him to go faster, still aiming to do more laps tomorrow, knowing that there is still potential for improvement:
– I definitely think that the new frame has given me a bit more rear traction, which has been something I have been asking for for some time, so it’s great to have it available and to be able to help me. Grip is lap time, so I felt really good. (…) I think my pace was pretty good today, everything felt okay to me. I definitely want to do more laps tomorrow, to understand everything and keep working, but overall I am quite happy. We did a good job today, my team worked well, they made my bike feel good. The best Friday we’ve had in a long time.
