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Despite not everything being perfect and still lacking a bit of form, the KTM pair concluded the three days of testing in Malaysia with a smile.
Brad Binder, tenth on Thursday about eight tenths behind Bagnaia, admitted that he needed a little more time to work on the bike.
“Pretty good test overall. We tried a ton of stuff. This morning we tried loads of things and throughout the day narrowed down what was working, what we liked and didn’t like. This afternoon we started to find a little bit more of a direction for the future. So far, so good. Things are a lot better than they look on the timing sheets. I think we have a lot of potential - he stated with conviction - We tried so many different things. We needed to put them together and we tried different things at different times. To be honest, we could have done with another two days of testing to narrow it all down. But the way we finished this afternoon is not too far off. In general, we can be happy and we have a much better idea. The sensations are positive, so, barring a few tweaks, this should be the bike we will race with in Qatar."
Looking at the performance, the South African also commented: "I set my best time in the morning with low temperatures and poor grip. At the test here last year, I think I was 14th or 15th and I did a 58.9, so we have made a good step in a year. If we can keep this type of progress I think we can do well.”
An inevitable thought went to Pedro Acosta who is surprising everyone in his first steps in MotoGP. "He's riding very well and you can see it from the telemetry. He brakes smoothly and has a rather clean ride. He's very talented and he's hard at work. I think he'll do well in the top class. Will he be a tough nut to crack? He'll certainly be an extra opponent among 21 who are certainly not going slowly."
Even further back, in fourteenth, Jack Miller nevertheless shared his teammate's positive sentiment about the level reached by his motorcycle.
“The bike is working pretty well. I’m really happy with the improvements we’ve made throughout the winter. I did the fastest lap that I’ve ever done, around here – he underlined - Still a second off the other boys, so we need to find a little bit more. But we’ll find it come race time. I feel more confident going into racing this year than I did last year. We were able to iron out some of the things that we needed to, to understand the package going forward. Now we just have to shave off that second we have from Ducati."
The line to follow is clear, at least apparently. “In terms of electronics, whatever we’ve brought has been a big improvement. There are still things to iron out with it, obviously being a new system. But it’s working really well. Our engine was quite strong. It needed polishing. And that’s what they were able to do. My weakness today? When I wanted to put a time attack together, putting the rear in shape, and I had countless highside moments. You feel like you are riding really well, but all of a sudden you pick the bike up and the grip goes away. It’s all to do with electronics.”
