Brad Binder will contest his fourth season in MotoGP in 2023, again as a KTM rider. The South African, former Moto3 champion and Moto2 runner-up, will once again be at the helm of the Austrian armada, after once again finishing as the best factory rider (although Miguel Oliveira was the only rider to climb the step higher than the podium).
The task won’t be easy, after a frustrating 2022 for Mattighofen’s team. None of its four riders managed to consistently ride in the benchmark positions, and only Oliveira’s two victories and several podiums by Binder managed to salvage KTM’s honour.
The main problem? Get good single lap times. Statistics show that all four of the Austrian squad’s riders struggled more than expected to get into Q2, therefore diminishing their chances of battling up front on Sunday. “The 2022 season has already been long for me, sometimes even boring, but I can’t wait to get back to racing,” said Binder in the press conference following the official team presentation.
Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
Photo by: KTM Images
“The last two years have not been easy for us and we have worked very hard. Last year we finished sixth and I really believe that if we can make a step forward we can go far. I hope I can fight for the top three, it is my goal this year. Honestly, KTM has never explicitly told me what they expect from me, but the goal is always to win, and that’s clear. And that’s why you can imagine our frustration at not managed to do it”.
“We have to improve the braking, because it’s difficult to stop the bike, and to turn as fast as possible in order to get it back quickly. A lot of new faces have arrived in the team,” he said, referring to the armada of Italian technicians who landed in Mattighofen, ” Everything they bring us has a purpose and comes to solve a problem we have. Things take a little longer to arrive but when they arrive they always work. It’s a big change from last year when we had to test things every week, and the development will be more stable.”
KTM RC16
Photo by: KTM Images
In this sense, Binder welcomed the arrival of Miller in the team, who was able to confirm the shortcomings of the RC16: “I think it’s great to have Jack in the team. He has a very broad knowledge base thanks to his experience in Ducati, and it’s a great opportunity to understand in which direction we need to go. It’s a very emotional moment for us. It’s not that he told us something that Miguel Oliveira or Dani Pedrosa wouldn’t have said. He rather confirmed what we already feared. the points we need to work on are clear and it’s nice to have this confirmed”.
The South African was more than happy with the change to the MotoGP format, which will introduce sprint racing at every Grand Prix on the calendar: “I’m really excited about sprint racing. I know I’m much better in the race than in practice, and I wasn’t exactly a big fan of FP4, so it’s good news for me to have more racing and I’m really looking forward to it. I think it’s a good thing for the league and it will make it more interesting for all of us,” he concluded.
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