MotoGP Sepang: Binder ‘ready, regardless of conditions’

Brad Binder put the Red Bull KTM at the top of the MotoGP timesheets on Friday after a day of mixed conditions in Malaysia.

A dry but humid morning practice saw the South African set the 1’59.479 target on his final effort of the 45-minute opener after opting for fresh Michelin’s ahead of a mixed afternoon forecast. Surprised many of his rivals didn’t chose the same strategy, Binder remained confident his team were on the right track as the weekend develops, come rain or shine.

“This morning was pretty good,” Binder said from Sepang. “I started off, did one long run, stopped and put a new tyre in at the end.

“Really glad we made the decision to put a tyre in because of the wet conditions this afternoon. We didn’t quite expect a big storm this afternoon, I’m sure it caught a lot of people off guard.

“I felt really good,” he continued on his afternoon progress in wet conditions. “I knew I should have come in for slick tyres with about three laps to go but it wasn’t really worth it because you can’t improve - so it’s a lot of danger for nothing really. Just kept riding on the wets to try and feel out the conditions and got more and more comfortable. I think I’m ready, regardless what the conditions bring tomorrow.

“A good Friday,” Binder summed up succinctly. “Looking forward to getting back on the bike tomorrow. Hopefully we have some solid dry conditions in the morning and we can go from there.”