Brad Binder puts KTM on top at Motegi: "I'd rather ride it, not reinvent it"
“Our bike’s pretty decent here, let's try to take advantage of it”
After a pair of podiums at the Qatar MotoGP season opener, Brad Binder has now gone 14 rounds without a rostrum return.
But the South African was back to his best at Motegi on Friday, putting KTM a surprise fastest on day one of the Japanese MotoGP.
“The last few races have been a bit of a challenge for sure,” Binder told MotoGP.com. “So we came here with a little bit of a different idea. I’d rather just try and ride the bike, not try and reinvent the thing.
“Today was pretty good. I can't complain. At the beginning of the practice session we had a small issue… Then we changed the tyre for the first time attack and my bike was back!
“It was really cool to finish on top again in a practice session. It's been a while! It looks like our bike’s pretty decent here and let's try to take advantage of it.”
Binder wasn’t the only KTM rider at the sharp end on Friday with future team-mate Pedro Acosta, the rider he is currently battling for top RC16 honours in the world championship, also in contention for GASGAS Tech3.
Although the rookie was pushed down to fourth during the time attacks, he set a very impressive 1m 44.666s on an old soft rear tyre.
Partly due to his earlier issue, Binder didn’t go under the ‘45s until fitting a new soft rear, something he aims to work on in final practice. If it’s dry.
“Everything felt pretty good today [but] it's important to see what we can do when we have to do 24 laps and not just one flyer,” he said.
“So that's what I want to work on tomorrow morning. And then my priority is to get a strong qualifying under my belt and try to fight with the top boys again.”
While Acosta has been using a new chassis in recent rounds, Binder reiterated that he’s benefiting from going “back to something we know.”
“I tried not to fiddle too much, just ride the bike. So that worked well for us today. And yeah, we can play a bit more in the future.”
Team-mate Jack Miller narrowly missed direct Qualifying 2 access with 11th after a fall.
