MotoGP is about to begin the second round of the 2022 season. After the Qatar GP won two weeks ago by Enea Bastianini on the Ducati GP21 fielded by the Gresini Racing team, the paddock goes for the first time as part of a racing weekend on the new Mandalika track, in Indonesia.
After a magnificent second place acquired at Lusail, Brad Binder will try to confirm KTM's good start this season. It must be said that the tests carried out last month on the Lombok peninsula were rather encouraging, with the South African driver having achieved the third best time. The KTM resident gave his impressions in the run-up to the Indonesian GP, and we transcribe his entire words here.
Brad, you finished on the podium in the first round in Qatar. You will undoubtedly try to capitalize on this great performance here in Mandalika…
« It's clear ! Qatar has always been a difficult track for us, we had encountered a lot of problems there in the past. But for some reason our new package worked really well this year, and we were able to hit the ground running. I'm very happy with the progress we made, and I'm very happy that we were able to finish on the podium. However, I think that we still have a lot of work to do on our package to be able to extract the maximum in all areas. But overall it's clear that the team and I are very happy with the current situation, and we'll see what happens this weekend. »
You set the third best time last month during the winter tests in Mandalika, and you confirmed your current good form two weeks ago at the opening of the championship. Do you think you can continue on this path?
« Testing went very well for us here last month. From the first laps I had very good feelings, and as the weekend progressed I remember that we were able to try different things on the bike, some very good and others not so much. I also remember that our pace was good, and when we wanted to do time attacks it also went very well. I feel really good coming here, I'm going to take the sessions one after the other, and I'm just going to give the best of myself on Sunday. We'll see where all this goes to bring. »
Michelin has changed its planned tire allocation here. Will this change anything on the KTM, especially the front?
«
During testing I tried the hardest option they offered. For me there were positives and negatives. At the rear it is a new carcass, and therefore we will have to analyze how this concretely affects the behavior of the bike as well as our level of grip. I think that on Sunday it will be crucial to make the right choice of tires for the race, because it will be very long. »
