Brad Binder key for Red Bull KTM during MotoGP testing

KTM Red Bull is relying heavily on the input of South African rider Brad Binder during the official three-day MotoGP testing that started in Malaysia on Friday

Binder recorded the 12th fastest time on the morning session of the opening day, with new teammate Jack Miller further adrift in 17th place. Spaniard Jorge Martin on a Ducati topped the timesheet around the Sepang circuit.

Recording the fastest times are not the teams’ main priority during testing as they use the laps to try out different settings on the bikes. Many of the riders on the first day also cleared the cobwebs on last season’s bikes before switching to their 2023 machines.

Brad Binder to break duck?

KTM team manager Francesco Guidotti believes 2023 could be a big year for the Austrian outfit. KTM has the MotoGP rider’s title in its sights to add to Moto2 and Moto3 championship wins.

Many believe Binder, who started riding for KTM nine years ago and became its first world champion by winning the Moto3 title in 2016, could break their duck this season. After finishing his first season in the premier class in 11th place in 2020, Binder recorded two consecutive sixth places.

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“He is our first reference. He knows out bike very well,” Guidotti told the MotoGP website before testing in Sepang.

“He is the only one in the current team that rode the bike last year and will be the first to try out the priority things.”

Good vibes

Guidotti said that Red Bull KTM was boosted by test rider Dani Pedrosa’s feedback from recent testing. Pedrosa will make his second wildcard appearance since his 2018 retirement at the Spanish MotoGP in April.

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“We had three days of testing with Dani during which we worked all around the bike ranging from aerodynamics to electronics and engine,” added Guidotti.

“We have good expectations after Dani’s comments, but we must still see this carrying over to the factory riders. But we are very confident we will do better than last year.”

There is another official testing day in Portugal on 11 March before the season gets into gear with the Portuguese MotoGP at the same venue on 26 March.