MotoGP Valencia Test
Focus on KTM
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing were on track less than 48 hours after the crew had celebrated 2nd and 5th finishes in Spain and 2nd place in the Teams’ championship and saw new recruit Jack Miller make his first laps on the 2023 KTM RC16, as Brad Binder got to work on the latest spec of the RC16.
After seven podium finishes and one win in 2022, Jack Miller was returning to Red Bull KTM colors for the first time since he fought for the 2014 Moto3 world championship with Aki Ajo’s team.
The Australian is now an eight-season veteran of the premier class and was getting to grips with the KTM RC16, finishing as one of the last on track and just seven-tenths of a second from the quickest lap of the day.
Jack Miller – P17
“A lot of fun. The weather was fantastic for testing today, wind picked up a little bit, but nonetheless we were able to get on track relatively early and ride right until the end of the session. and did a lot of laps. Shaking down the new bike, understanding the new team, it was a good day.
“I adapted easier than I expected, after being on another bike for such a considerable time, but I felt pretty comfortable from the start, and then was just playing around with it for the rest of the day. Felt relatively comfortable, by the end of the day, was pretty happy with how we finished up.
“Unfortunately no real time attack, did the best time on a Medium. I would love thrown some laps at it anger on softs, but still pretty happy with the result.
“Really excited for what is to come for the future and next year. Got to keep chipping away at it, but most important we stayed on it today and was able to gain a lot of experience, a lot of understanding in this one-day test before the two-month break, that was definitely crucial.“
Brad Binder worked with three configurations of the KTM RC16 and through ideas and components that could form part of the 2023 package by the time of the next MotoGP test in Malaysia in February. The South African posted a 1 min 30.4 on a flying lap attempt that was only a few tenths away from his time during the Q2 session the previous Saturday. He also gave a large ‘thumbs-up’ to the latest generation of the RC16 chassis.
Brad Binder – P7
“Today was cool. Of course we had a lot to try with a new bike and some new aero. We got some really good information going into the off-season. I had another new chassis and it was 100 times better in some ways than the one I used at the weekend but there were also some points to work on! That’s testing though! I can say that we are in a much better place.
“I’m really grateful to my team because they have worked so hard throughout the year and again we had a lot to think about and to experiment with today. Now the guys at the factory can put it all together and see if we can make more steps in Sepang.”
Francesco Guidotti – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager
“A busy time and a lot to do in one day between the riders. There were three different aspects to understand. Brad is the only one who knows the bike so started with the Valencia race bike before moving to the 2022/2023 hybrid version and Jack began with the new spec.
“There are quite a lot of new parts everywhere; chassis, engine and for the electronics and we tested also a new aero-pack. It’s still a young project so we are working hard where we can. We now have a few days in the wind-tunnel plus some tests in December where we will make the final decisions ahead of Sepang and the new season.”
Sebastian Risse – Red Bull KTM Technical Manager MotoGP
“We finished a busy and intense day; one of the rare outings on the calendar where we can go through new items with our GP riders. We took full profit and mainly focused on the new bike package with some references from the old model. We are quite happy that we touched some areas where we had been looking for some solutions for quite a long time.
“Brad obviously knows the bike very well so we could explore some set-up options as well as work on an aero idea that is not final but it was good to collect some data. The outcome was very positive. We also had a new rider! We did the first laps with Jack and he was quite happy with the bike and with the first adaptions and changes we did. Overall, we are going into the winter break with a good feeling and some confidence for the new season.”
MotoGP Valencia Test Times
- MARINI Luca ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 1’30.032
- VINALES Maverick SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.225
- BEZZECCHI Marco ITA Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati 0.230
- OLIVEIRA Miguel POR RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 0.335
- ESPARGARO Aleix SPA Aprilia Racing Aprilia 0.366
- DI GIANNANTONIO Fabio ITA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 0.451
- BINDER Brad RSA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0.464
- MARTIN Jorge SPA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.544
- QUARTARARO Fabio FRA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.546
- BASTIANINI Enea ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 0.560
- ZARCO Johann FRA Pramac Racing Ducati 0.594
- BAGNAIA Francesco ITA Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati 0.623
- MARQUEZ Marc SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.644
- MORBIDELLI Franco ITA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.659
- MARQUEZ Alex SPA Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati 0.680
- ESPARGARO Pol SPA Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 0.725
- MILLER Jack AUS Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 0.755
- MIR Joan SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.882
- NAKAGAMI Takaaki JPN LCR Honda Honda 1.049
- RINS Alex SPA LCR Honda Honda 1.196
- FERNANDEZ Raul SPA RNF MotoGP Team Aprilia 1.308
- FERNANDEZ Augusto SPA Tech3 GASGAS Factory Racing KTM 1.698
