Improvements for 2023 MotoGP and a view towards the 2024 KTM RC16 race bike were on the slate at Misano today as Red Bull KTM Factory Racing continued their work, focus and presence in San Marino. When the Italian heat and sunshine had subsided late in the afternoon, Brad Binder and Jack Miller had logged the 3rd and 5th fastest lap-times respectively and totalled more than 140 laps thanks to the productive session.
For the fourth day in a row, MotoGP left plenty of dark Michelin rubber on the black Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli asphalt. The second one-day official test (the first took place at Jerez, Spain in May) was also the last outing in Europe before MotoGP embarks on Grand Prix trips to India, Japan, Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and Qatar and then the return to Valencia, Spain for the season-closer.
Jack Miller and Brad Binder used the valuable track time to refine further their 2023 race-spec of the KTM RC16 and also try new components to potentially increase competitiveness. They also experimented with the version of the bike used by test rider Dani Pedrosa, including a new chassis concept, used in his run to 4th position in both the Saturday Sprint and Sunday Grand Prix at the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini.
Brad Binder, 3rd: “Today we tried two different frames and both had potential and both had strong points. If we can put them together then we’ll be good! I feel pretty comfortable but you always have to be a bit careful at these tests because with so much rubber on the track many things can be great and the weaker parts can be harder to find. We also tried things with the engine and gained some more information for the factory to be able to move forward.”
Jack Miller, 5th: “We needed to work on the set-up, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for us. A busy morning and pretty happy with the progress we have made. As I’ve said all along; the bike has incredible potential, I just have to understand more how I need to adapt my riding style and take the maximum from it. There were a lot of things to try and the guys were busy until 3am building our bikes. There is a lot in the pipeline coming for future races and also next year.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “We had three stories with our riders in the Grand Prix and we had a busy time getting ready to move onto the next stage of the project today; with both of the factory racers trying what Dani used here as a reference bike. Everything looks very promising so far but we want more laps to understand better where we can continue to keep improving and, importantly, know what we can use in the near future and what we have to keep developing for next year.”
Sebastian Risse, Red Bull KTM Technical Manager MotoGP: “Today we looked a lot at hardware in all areas. Mainly chassis and engine and decisions we want to take for next year. Summing up the day it was very positive and Dani and the test team have done a fantastic job to prepare for the race weekend and his bike was very competitive. We took it from there and took it further with different concepts on the chassis and the engine and overall confirmed what the test team had already found plus some solutions for limitations that they had encountered before. So we are now very confident we can make a step soon. Some of those things we might still see this year, some next year but the plan for the future seems quite bright for us.”
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli Official Test final combined times
1. Luca Marini (ITA) Ducati 1:30.602
2. Maverick Viñales (ESP) Aprilia +0.234
3. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.522
5. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +0.573
