In the upcoming Moto2 season, he should be considered one of the favorites for the title. Brad Binder, 23 years old, is indeed an official KTM and he finished third in the last championship of the category. The two in front of him are in MotoGP, so he is logically the one to count on. The South African works there. But he occasionally reminds us that the Mattighofen factory owes him something that was promised...
And that something is not nothing: laps with the RC16 version 2018! A first contact with MotoGP that the former Moto3 World Champion is looking forward to. On Motorsport, he explains : " I made a bet with Pit Beirer that as soon as I win a Moto2 race, I can ride last season's MotoGP machine. I'm waiting to be given this opportunity ". Because Binder did better than win once. He scored three goals last season...
He insists : " I am really impatient. I just want to go hard down the straights and into the pits, I just want to feel the power of the big engine ". And he also wants to take a date… “ You never know, but if you win, you have opportunities to progress. If things go as planned, maybe I'll compete in MotoGP next year ". That is what is said. Pol Espargaro, Johann zarco et Miguel Oliveira being assured of their fate until the end of 2020, it is good to Hafiz Syahrin that this message is addressed… But Binder also tempers: “ It seems like a better plan to stay another year in Moto2, but ultimately if that were to be the case we should just take full advantage of whatever opportunity we might get ».
Moto2 will make one of the biggest technical changes in recent years in 2019, with the adoption of a new Triumph engine, which replaces the old Honda units. Binder finished thirteenth in the last winter tests at Jerez. Although the best of the KTM riders, he admitted that his team did not get off to the best start with the new engine. “ It's really different, the bike has a lot more torque, the riding characteristics are very different ", did he declare.
He adds : " the first tests were not really positive for us, but at the end of the day we discovered the point to improve, the general balance of the bike which we had to work on a little. In the test it was quite difficult for us, I was the first KTM in 13th place while I finished third in the 2018 championship. We have a little work to do but the important thing was to know exactly what we had to change and it was done ».
It will be recalled that the teammate of Binder in 2019 will be the reigning Moto3 champion, Jorge Martin, which replaces Olive tree, left to join the elite with the new KTM satellite team that is Tech3.
