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After the podium in Mugello, KTM confirmed it’s in good shape also in Barcelona. Don’t be deceived by the 14th place reached by Miguel Oliveira, who only used the hard rear tire in the FP2 without mounting the soft in the final minutes. But Brad Binder showed his potential on the flying lap, 4th in the rankings at the end of Friday.
“It wasn’t a bad day,” the South African rider said smiling. “In the morning, I always worked with the same tire, while we made some small changes on the bike in the afternoon, and I felt good on the flying lap. Tomorrow I’ll have to understand what’s needed for the race.”
Brad is sure that tomorrow they’ll have to make progress to remain in the leading positions.
“I think that everyone will use two tires in the FP3 and improve their times a lot. It’ll also depend a lot on the weather,” he stated. “Also, we’ll have to choose the tire for the race, because the differences between all three options are really slight. This morning, I did twenty laps with the medium, and it was practically destroyed at the end. Sunday will be difficult. The asphalt is very slippery, and you have to choose carefully, balancing performance and durability.”
A job that every rider will have to do, but what matters most is that the RC16, thanks to the new frame, seems to be competitive again. Even if not all that glitters is gold.
“It sure helps, but each bike has its strengths and weaknesses,” Binder explained. “On this track, I feel the negative aspects of the new frame a bit more. When braking and entering corners, there’s ground contact with the rear tire. We have work to solve the problem.”
