Brad Binder is confident that his good run in the official MotoGP Test at Jerez on Monday will help him to get his campaign back on track again.
Binder clocked the second fastest time during testing, with his fastest lap just 0.158sec slower than that of Ducati rider Johann Zarco.
The Frenchman’s 1:37.136 around the Spanish circuit was the fastest time of the day.
World champion Fabio Quartararo was third fastest.
“We tried a new pipe and the guys can now go back and see the full extent of the difference. I liked the sound!” Binder told his team’s website after completing 65 laps while testing out a new exhaust, some geometry and front fork settings.
“Importantly the power delivery of the bike was a bit stronger, but with the KTM RC16 we haven’t really lacked anything in that regard. We’ll keep working with it.”
Binder started the season like a house on fire by being the runner-up in the opening race in Qatar.
But things have not gone his way late, with the 2016 Moto3 world champion only collecting 10 points in his last three races to slip down to eighth in the world championship.
Binder and his team-mate Miguel Oliveira both suffered from rear tire issues on the KTM RC16 at the Spanish Grand Prix at Jerez on Sunday, something the team is addressing before the next race at Le Mans on 15 May.
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“We played with our base setup and trying to improve rear contact with the braking point. I’m happy that we managed to make some progress,” Binder said after testing.
Brad’s younger brother Darryn Binder was also chuffed with Monday’s testing after completing 54 laps.
Darryn crashed out of Sunday’s race and for the first time in his rookie MotoGP season failed to finish a race.
“It was nice to finally be able to have another day at the track after the race weekend once you got all the information and you want to test on different things,” said the WithU Yamaha RNF rider.
“Unfortunately, I had two crashes today, trying to improve my riding style. It’s unfortunate, I was definitely finding the limits.
“We have a lot of things we can look over and compare throughout the week and when we arrive in Le Mans, we’ll try to put everything we’ve tried together today.”
To see the full MotoGP world championship standings, click here.