In Japan, Brad Binder comes back to life at the start of the weekend. After two very good comebacks in India, he is now significantly behind in points on his main opponents in the general classification. Obviously, he should not take part in the final battle for the championship podium, as the three Ducati arrows in front are so impressive. Unless. Unless KTM has the solution with this carbon chassis, already used by Dani Pedrosa at Misano and which had convinced the teams.
« Today was a very positive day. Everything worked well » confided Brad Binder in the columns of speedweek. Indeed, he concludes this first salvo at the top of the ranking, even beating the track record previously established by Jorge Lorenzo in 2015. “My team did an excellent job this morning during the first session. We fixed some engine braking problems, but the most important and to have qualified directly in Q2" Indeed, for a long time, qualifications have been my friend Brad's weak point.
Land of the rising sun. 🤩#KTM #ReadyToRace #JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/KmtUdxKm2T
— Red Bull KTM Factory Racing (@KTM_Racing) September 29, 2023
Crazy climbs cannot hide this defect, but perhaps the carbon chassis will manage to make it gain more speed over a lap? He also confided on this subject: « This new frame gives me more grip on the rear wheel, something I've been asking for for a long time. This definitely helps us with lap time. » Second here last year, he will be keen to repeat, there is no doubt. As usual, he doesn't get carried away either. « The front wheel tends to lock up a little when braking. This is normal on this track. The best times will arrive tomorrow in Q2, so I'm a little cautious with these predictions, but I'm happy to have the opportunity to ride the bike the way I want" he added.
Measured in his words, as often, he could well be the itch of this Japanese weekend. Do you see him playing for the win? Tell us in the comments!
Here are the Practice results at the 2023 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
Cover photo: Michelin Motorsport
