KTM came in force to Malaysia for this first test session of the year, with 15 tons of material and 6 drivers: Pol Espargaró, Brad Binder, Miguel Oliveira, Iker Lecuona, Mika Kallio and Dani Pedrosa.
The Austrian manufacturer is testing many new features, aerodynamics for the most visible, but also a new starting system (“holeshot device”) inspired by the one that Ducati used for the first time at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2018. The idea has was taken over by Aprilia at Brno last season, and it is now Yamaha and KTM who are experimenting with it.
For the team manager Mike leitner, “We do not yet have a complete starting system. But it is of course clear that we are working on such a system. It remains to be seen whether it will be ready for use by the time of the Qatar GP. We are already trying things here in Sepang. If we look closely, the debut of our MotoGP riders was not so bad. »
The South African Brad Binder, vice-Moto2 World Champion in 2019 behind Álex Márquez, completed his seventh day of testing in the MotoGP category this Tuesday. He is already getting closer to his teammates. “Brad has had time since November to think and adapt to this category” Leitner believes. “He trained very well this winter. I met him once in Austria before the test. He looks in good shape. He has a lot of ambition and can now imagine what awaits him in MotoGP. »
While taking his first laps with the RC16, rookie Binder was cautious at Valencia and Jerez in November, not wanting to try a 2020 machine, but simply wanting to log miles and gain some experience. experience.
In Valencia, he was 2.518 behind the leader Maverick Vinales, then in Jerez 2.812 behind the Spaniard.
“But I wasn’t worried. Brad didn't have a meteoric start to his career in Moto3 and Moto2 either. », notes Leitner. “He describes himself as “Sunday runner”. It is always on Sunday that it gives the best results. I hope he can do the same in MotoGP.
“The important thing is that he gets into a good rhythm and that we do clean work with him during the tests. The race will not start until March 8 in Doha. We have seen a lot of winter test champions in recent years…”
Results of the third day of testing:
Photos © motogp.com / Dorna, Lukas Leitner, Gold and Goose and Sebas Romero for KTM
Partial source: Speedweek. com
