Upon his arrival at KTM after several years with Ducati, Jack Miller had to go through a natural adaptation process to the team and a motorcycle that was very different from what he was used to. As a result, his results and performances throughout 2023 were somewhat inconsistent, but now he seems to be definitively finding a good path.

Asked in a press conference whether he feels he is close to slot the last piece of the puzzle with the Mattighofen-based manufacturer, the Australian confirmed:

– Definetely. Already in Motegi we had great pace in the sprint race in the dry and then of course with the race in the wet being cut short I felt I had more left to give in that race. And Indonesia was probably my best showing this year in terms of low grip tracks. So, I feel quitely confident for the weekend, but there is lots of fast guys on the grid, lots of fast bikes. So, we’ll try our best to match this boys.

O conteúdo Jack Miller feels he is close to the last step with KTM aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Jack Miller had a very promising start to the weekend at his home circuit, but ended up qualifying only in 8th position this morning, managing to finish the race one position higher, in 7th place.

Speaking at the end of the race, the Australian rider said he felt good during the race, showing that it was difficult to manage the tires during the race:

– I felt good about the race. We wanted a little more, but that’s what we had today. I felt reasonably strong all weekend, especially in the middle of the circuit, in sector 2 and 3 I felt good. The last sector, especially in the race, I was trying to control the rear at the exit of turns 11 and 12, but I was having a bit of a lack of support at the front and I wasn’t able to let the bike loose during the corner as I would have liked and I was a bit slow on corner entry and then I had to be a bit slow on the exit so I didn’t ruin the rear tyre.

Miller also agreed with his teammate when it came to cold air and the influence of that on the front tyre:

– Definitely Brad’s comments are mine, about the fresh air in the front tyre and being in the slipstream, as something that makes a difference. But overall, it was positive. Let’s see what we can do tomorrow, hopefully in the Sprint race. (…) The tyre kept getting colder and cooler and that helped to keep the tyre temperature when (Alex) Marquez and Aleix (Espargaro) passed me at the end of the race.

Finally, the #43 was hopeful about the change in weather conditions for tomorrow, hoping that it will be possible to carry out the sprint race:

– I feel sad for the Australian fans, but this is the risk of running here. We’ve had the best venue for motorcycle racing for the last three days, but the irony of that is that it also turns around very fast. That’s why it’s keeping your fingers crossed. We’re all freaking out, but it could be the typical one at Phillip Island and the exact opposite of what is predicted, but we’ll have to wait and see.

O conteúdo ‘We wanted a little more, but that’s what we had today’ – Jack Miller aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

KTM showed excellent pace from the first day in Australia, with the riders of the official team and GasGas managing to occupy top positions on the timesheets early on. Today, in the morning, Brad Binder even managed to qualify in 2nd, in a qualifying dominated by Jorge Martin.

Already in the race, Binder would end up finishing in 4th position, after a huge fight in the final laps. Speaking after the race, the South African rider said he was somewhat disappointed to have the feeling that he could have done a little more:

– Today everything went very well until three laps from the end. I think I had a great qualifying, the best I’ve had in MotoGP, so I was happy to be on the front row. It’s really cool not to have anyone in front of you, you don’t get that very often. That was fantastic. As for the race I felt good, I was really trying to keep the tyre as much as possible. When I realised that Di Giannantonio could pass me, I started to defend too much, especially in the last sector, so when I started to follow him and realised how fast I could be without putting too much more effort on the tyre, I took a step again. I could see Jorge (Martin) coming back to us, so I was a bit excited and focused on that, I wasn’t necessarily thinking I had 4 riders behind me. Then when Zarco passed me, I lifted the bike a little and it was enough for them to pass me and then I couldn’t compose myself to pass someone until the end. So it was a bit tricky at the end, but 4th is 4th, it’s good points and a good finish, but I’m sorry for my team because we could have done a little bit more today.

Brad Binder also said that he was surprised by Jorge Martin’s pace on the soft tyre, and was pleased with the evolution of his KTM and the proximity to the Ducati:

– As soon as we got on the grid I saw the white line on (Martin’s) tyre and I realised that he had chosen the soft, so I knew it was going to be almost impossible to keep up with him at the start. I had to let him go. He kept up an insane pace until there were probably 10 laps to go. It was the first time I saw that it was stabilizing. He did an excellent job of keeping the tyre soft for such a long duration, because I think we were going to lose a lot sooner. Today I loved racing, especially in good conditions like today. We’ll see tomorrow. (…) I don’t think we’re too far away, we’re too close. For me, clearly at the end they had more grip than us (Ducati riders), even though I noticed that on my tyre all the time, they had something extra there. Anyway I think it was to be expected because we are always a bit more aggressive with the tyres than some of our opponents, so overall I think it was a positive day. Last year there was nothing left of the tyre and today I came to the most competitive finish.

O conteúdo ‘Today everything went very well until three laps from the end’ – Brad Binder aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After a positive day, Brad Binder feels confident and is very competitive to face his rivals in the Australian GP. The South African was the fastest rider on Friday and wants to keep up the good pace.

Asked how he’s handling the circuit’s last corner, which has caused some difficulties for all the drivers on the grid, Binder replied: ‘I’ve been handling the last corner the same way as everyone else, there’s just a slight bounce, but nothing crazy. Tomorrow I have a good idea of what our day will be like, we just have to adapt to riding at this pace and survive more laps.

Brad Binder sits 4th in the MotoGP world championship, 135 points behind the leader Francesco Bagnaia. However, the South African rider can still claim a top-three finish in the championship standings as he is only 72 points behind third-placed Marco Bezzecchi of the Mooney VR46 Racing Team.

O conteúdo ‘We just have to adapt to riding at this pace and survive more laps’ – Brad Binder aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

On a strong Friday for the Red Bull KTM team, Jack Miller was the second fastest in the Australian MotoGP practice session. He was just behind his teammate Brad Binder, in an encouraging start to his home round.

The Australian rider confirmed it was a good Friday for him: ‘It was a great day. I can’t ever complain when we get to Phillip Island with this sort of weather conditions, not having to worry with the wind or a frozen tyre into turn four. I’m pretty happy with the day and the bike is working well. It got better in every exit. I was able to throw a decent time in the end and most importantly going directly to the Q2. So it’s the best way to start the weekend’.

Regarding the reasons for KTM performing exceptionally well at Phillip Island, Miller explained: ‘I think the rear grip that we’ve been able to find in the last couple of Grand Prixes has really helped us here. And it’s what I’ve said all the year: the way this bike is through the high speed changes of direction is pretty agile, and you are able to find your line pretty well. It’s working pretty good so far, so fingers crossed we can just keep that trajectory going and give it to these boys tomorrow’.

O conteúdo ‘The bike is pretty agile through the high speed changes of direction’ – Jack Miller aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Brad Binder was the standout man on the first day of the MotoGP Australian GP. In the second practice session, he set the pace for the day by being the only one to lap in the 1m27s (1m27.943s).

The Red Bull KTM rider finished ahead of his teammate Jack Miller and didn’t hide his satisfaction with this Friday: ‘Today was really a good day; from the first exit this morning the bike worked really well and I was quite happy with it from the beginning. This afternoon when we put the tyres it felt really good. And I don’t have too much to say; quite a good day, the most important is to go through to Q2 tomorrow. And let’s give the same tomorrow and see how we end up’.

Despite feeling somewhat apprehensive considering last year’s poor performance, Binder was early on convinced that this time would be different, for the better: ‘I was a bit worried coming here to be honest, because last year it was really though. But from the first lap this morning I realised that we are in another league compared to the last year and the bike is working great’.

O conteúdo ‘Since the first lap I realised thate we’re in another league compared to 2022’ – Brad Binder aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Miguel Oliveira’s race at the MotoGP Indonesian GP was compromised by a collision with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) when he was running in eighth place. The CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team rider went off the track after the contact and dropped down the standings, managing to recover only to 12th. Meanwhile, the South African rider received his second penalty in the race.

The Portuguese rider said that without the incident he could have finished in the top ten: ‘The race anyway, I made a wrong rear tyre choice, but still I think I could have a top ten result. I just got a little help by Brad to go into the gravel, but that’s it. I think he got a penalty for it’.

Despite believing the rules were followed, Oliveira suggested a penalty system similar to the double yellow card in football: ‘I think the FIM stewards followed the protocol for sure, but I think if you get the same penalty twice during the race you should have a little bit stronger penalties, because it pays off somehow. It would be like the second yellow card in a football match: you get a red one and you are out. Probably there are something that can be improved in protocol. Anyway, it shouldn’t happen during the race that you get a penalty for doing such a manouver, but still in extreme cases like Sunday in Indonesia it could be not too bad to think about it’.

O conteúdo Miguel Oliveira suggests penalties similar to the ‘second yellow card in football’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Pol Espargaró didn’t secure a spot in the MotoGP grid for 2024 after being the «sacrificed» rider by the Pierer Mobility Group. With five riders for four bikes, the Austrian team tried to expand its lineup, but the Dorna vetoed their request.

Asked if the promoter has some responsability in his future by not allowing KTM to put more bikes on grid, the Spaniard replied: ‘I understand that the Pierer Mobility Group want to put more bikes on the track, but it’s not that easy. You cannot expect you will get whatever you want. There is a process and you need to go through the process. The championship for sure… in my personal view, for sure Pierer Mobility Group deserves more seats in the category, but not because I say, because there is another manufacturer that has eight bikes on the track – which is actually the best manufacturer at the moment. And I think is due to that bikes on the track. And it’s not fair also for the other manufacturers and for the other riders, because actually the championship would change quite a lot if some of the Ducati guys were on another bike’.

Despite he considers KTM could have more bikes, Espargaró also understands the championship organizers: ‘So, thinking in that, I believe that if the Pierer Mobility Group would have another seat would be fair. But I understand that in the point of view of the championship they don’t want to allow any other manufacturer to be in the position the Ducati is now because they have an advantage. I believe also it’s fair’.

O conteúdo ‘If Pierer Mobility Group would have another seat would be far, but…’ – Pol Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Pol Espargaró lost his place in MotoGP for 2024 after KTM had to release one of their riders to promote Pedro Acosta. They had five riders for four bikes, split between Red Bull KTM and GasGas Tech3.

The rider was asked if he would have liked to have known about his release earlier to try to find alternatives within the paddock. In his response, he confirmed that he would have preferred that but acknowledged that the situation was complicated: ‘Well, I would like, but the situation was not good for me. I’ve been away for the first half of the year, which means that also for the manufacturer was not easy to take an option and for sure they didn’t want to put me out after the injury I had, and they wanted to test me, and all this. But it is what it is’.

In Espargaró’s opinion, KTM also had a complicated contractual situation, but regarding Acosta, he believes that he will be a good rider: ‘I believe the manufacturer had this trouble with the contracts program. They didn’t make it well, they know and we have talked about this for quite a long time and they know this. It’s a kind of responsability to the manufacturer also looking in the future – to let some young talents like Pedro coming into the Pierer Mobility Group. I think it’s gonna be a good rider for the manufacturer in the future’.

O conteúdo ‘KTM had this trouble with the contracts; they didn’t make the program well’ – Pol Espargaró aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Brad Binder was one of the protagonists of Sunday’s race, but not for the best reasons. We have already reported here that the South African rider took full responsibility for the collision with Miguel Oliveira, stating, however, that he could do nothing to avoid Luca Marini.

The #33 of Red Bull KTM also said in a debrief that the situation could have been much worse, reinforcing that he was sure that the brake problem would not be repeated – as he had already reported it to the team previously – after having carried out the Sprint race without any problem:

– What happens is that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what happens because you have the responsibility of not hitting anyone on the track. We are not here to put others in danger. I had a moment earlier where my brakes opened, but I hadn’t in the race, so I thought the guys had fixed the problem. The reality is that if you have a big shake, they open it. What I can say is that I was very lucky because even with the lever glued to my fingers, I still had some pressure, because if I didn’t have anything, whoever I hit or whatever happened, it would have been at a much higher speed. Unfortunately, things like this can happen, and as I said, I’m really sorry for them. It is never the intention of any of the riders to cause this to others.

O conteúdo ‘We’re not here to put others in danger’ – Brad Binder aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.