Brad Binder on differences between now and 2023: ‘Set-up was on another planet’
Brad Binder says the set-up us༒ed to begin the 2023🍌 season ‘was on another planet’.
Despite winning two MotoGP sprints early on in 2023, Brad Binder says KTM struggled to find their feet in📖itially.
Binder recorded two second place finis🌌hes during last weekend’s 2024 season-opener in Qatar, showing once again why he’s feared among his rivals.
The only rider able to consistently challenge Ducati, Binder proved that he a🎃nd KTM are here to stay this season.
But that wasn’t the feeling he had when starting last season, a🤡s Binder admitted there were some difficultie﷽s to overcome.
Speaking on the , Binder said: “The beginning of last year was really tricky for us to be honest. Purely ♛because in 2022 our bike was very stable and we barely changed anything.
“There weren’t really any updates that came during the season, but the second we got to 23 we got a new bike, new aero,🌃 a little bit of a different engine and everything was so new and different.
“The set-up we started using was on another planet compared to what we’re used to. It took so much time to settle in and figure these things out and re꧙ally start to take advantage of the new package.
“I think the first time we saw that we were really compet🐲itive was with Jack in Portimao. The first race he was super fast.
“That gave us a lot of confidence. Leaving that test we were still very unsure ofꦇ where we were.
“Al🤪l of a sudden we made a good st🃏ep before the first race and they brough an update and our biggest negative was reduced a lot less. It made our life a lot better and we were on the pace.”
Sharing 💮the factory KTM garage with Jack Miller for a second seaso🌜n in succession in 2024, Binder was keen to point out that the atmosphere created has been a big help to pushing the project forward.
As has been data sharing🥃, not just between himsꦉelf and Miller, but between the Red Bull KTM outfit and GASGAS.
“Jack is a really good mate of mine,” began Binder. “Coming from Australia a🦩ꦓnd me South Africa, I think we have a lot in common.
“I think things are similar in those [two countries] even though they are so far apart. I’ve alw꧑ays got on well with him and it’s awesome sharing a box with him.
“We are constantly c🍃hecking data between everybody. Iꦇt’s basically open for all. Between GASGAS and KTM there is always something to learn from every rider.
“We check through all the data, check through which corner each rider is doing well, where weಞ can improve, where our weak🐈 points are.
“It’s the best way to h♉ave it to be honest. It keeps things going forward for us.”
