Johannesburg - There was a marked improvement for the Binder Brothers at the newly constructed Pertamina Mandalika Circuit this past weekend in the second and final pre-season testing session for this year’s MotoGP campaign.
After a shakedown in Sepang a week before, Red Bull KTM and Brad Binder now seem to be putting together a package that will compete more consistently with the front-runners in 2022. By the end of day 3 of the test on Sunday in Indonesia, Binder was placed 11th overall, 0.1 seconds faster than his teammate, Miguel Oliveira of Portugal in 15th.
Moreover, Binder was only 0.5 second behind Honda’s Pol Espargaro; and if pre-season is an early indicator, the opening rounds of the MotoGP calendar are going to be tightly contested with Honda the slight favourites. Only a 0.8s split separates 21 riders heading towards the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix early next month, as revealed by the latest telemetry this past weekend.
Brad completed 68 laps in Indonesia, setting his fastest time of 1.31.574s on a barely completed track that would have had little grip or traction, and which will no doubt be much improved when the riders return there for the second round of the season in mid-March.
After the completion of the test on Sunday afternoon, the 26-year-old Brad revealed his belief that the team was in a much better place when compared to last year at the same time.
Said Brad: “So far, so good.
“The bike is working better and I’m working better," he continued. "We have found some good things and we have improved our package from last year. We still need to work to increase that forward step that we’ve made over these five days in Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Now we can go home, evaluate and, hopefully, come back even stronger in Qatar. I think we can progress with our drive out of the corner and with rear grip in general - those are my two main things.
“If we can sort them out, then I think we’re going to be in good shape but I’m much happier. Hats-off to the team and thanks to everybody for their hard work. Qatar is a track that will really push us but I’m confident we’re in a better place than (last year).”
His younger brother, Darryn, meanwhile, had a much better time of it in Indonesia.
This is, of course, to be expected as the MotoGP rookie gets to grips with his much more powerful Yamaha after leapfrogging from Moto3 to the elite class this year. The 24-year-old completed 61 laps around Mandalika, his fastest lap a 1.33.049s effort.
It saw him dip below the two second mark behind Espargaro’s 1.31.060 – an important feat - and those completed laps will be invaluable as he builds an understanding of his ride towards Qatar in three weeks time.
The elite field's testing is now done but Moto3 has one final pre-season testing session, starting on Saturday in Portugal. The racing calendar then starts off a fortnight later on March 6 at the Losail International Circuit.
* Quotes courtesy of Flume Digital Marketing and PR Agency
@FreemanZAR