Brad Binder even led the MotoGP Thailand GP Practice but ended up relegated to the first qualifying phase – finishing in 11th place, just 0.001s from the top ten.
The South African rider from Red Bull KTM reported difficulties in achieving a clean lap, constantly losing the front of the RC16:
– There is not too much to say. Everything was quite okay, just when I was going to try and push for a lap time, I kept losing the front, so that was really difficult. My ideal lap time is really good, it’s just like I couldn’t finish a lap without closing the front. So, we need to try and figure something out just to try and make it stick. If we can do that, it will make my life easier, for sure. Other than that, everything was working quite well.
If this issue can be resolved, Binder is confident in the potential: ‘I feel quite good on the bike, but just the second we put on a new tyre and we go for a time attack, it’s really difficult not to wash the front. So, we’ve got a bit of work to do for tomorrow, and if we can solve that issue, I’m sure it will be really good’.