Brad Binder is one of the drivers who did not take much satisfaction from these off-season tests in Qatar. The South African fell a lot when he lost the front of a KTM which was not celebrating on the Losail track. A situation which hardly encourages us to consider the first two Grands Prix of the 2021 MotoGP season with the morale of a winner, since the competitions will take place also close to Doha... However, the winner of Brno last year is not cracking...
The Red Bull KTM factory rider, Brad Binder, experienced a week of trials MotoGP which could be described as complicated Qatar. Falling more often than not, he did not stand out with encouraging times. The South African 25 finishes testing at Losail in 17th place, losing over 1,5 seconds to Ducati factory rider Jack Miller, who set an unofficial track record near Doha on Wednesday.
However, Binder was only 0,165 seconds behind his Red Bull KTM teammate Miguel Oliveira with a time of 1'54,691. On the last day, the weather thwarted the plans of the MotoGP riders. So Friday wasted, he comments: “ the wind was strong, but the sand on the road was worse. I quickly realized that pushing would be too risky. We then decided to only check small things in order to be ready for the race weekend ».
Certainly, but what if the desert storm came to the party during the Grand Prix? “ When I was on the track I didn't feel too bad, but when I turned around I thought I was on a motocross track ", said Binder. “ It's hard to say if you can race in these conditions, on the one hand it doesn't seem that bad, but in reality the track is not in good condition. The sand covered all the black marks and clues on the road, everything looked the same. I think we could race, but it would be very difficult and I think we would have a lot of crashes ».
Looking back on his performance during these five days, Brad Binder relies on positive feelings to make the pill pass: “ it looks much worse on paper than in reality “, he wants to reassure: “ the situation will change again during the race. It was a tough test for us KTM riders and we all know we don't like this track. Nevertheless, we have good ideas and we will get much closer to the leading group ».
Brad Binder: “I only want to think about the positive aspects of this test”
« On the last day of testing we had three things we wanted to test and it's a shame it didn't work. However, our test team has already tested everything, so we can try it on the race weekend, we are relatively sure it will work », assures the pilot of the official RC16 who praises the work of the KTM test pilot in passing Dani Pedrosa. " We lost the whole day on Friday, but it's just as bad that we lost so much time with all my crashes. I'm very disappointed, but ultimately that's how it is. ».
Binder joined the factory team KTM as a MotoGP rookie in 2020 and showed from the first races how great his potential was. HAS Brno, he achieved KTM's first success in MotoGP. “ Compared to the same time a year ago, I have developed mentally because I know what I am capable of and I am sure that I can fight for at least the top five. JI'm going into the first race with a lot more confidence than last season, I understand the class and the bike much better and I am generally more relaxed than before last season. My goal for the start of the season is to get the best possible result ».
He finishes : " I want to prepare as best I can in the next two weeks, thinking only about the positive aspects of this test. It's the best way to approach a race weekend, although I am aware that there is no shortage of work. I'm not setting any goals at the moment, I just want to try to make the best of the situation ».
MotoGP Tests Qatar 2: combined ranking
Credit rankings: MotoGP.com
