P6 and P8 in the Championship, a Sprint victory and consistent speed – Binder, Miller and KTM are on the up in 2023
It’s fair to say Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had a quiet pre-season. Brad Binder and new signing Jack Miller rarely threatened the top 10, as factories such as Ducati and Aprilia displayed superior pace. From the outside, it began to look slightly worrying for the Austrian factory.
However, there was no real need for anyone to worry. Miller’s magnificent Portuguese Practice 2 table-topping time set the tone for the opening two rounds. The Australian led the first-ever Sprint and eventually finished P4, while an injured Binder managed to claim P6 in the Grand Prix race – one place ahead of Miller.
Fast forward to the Argentina GP, and Binder takes everyone’s breath away – including his own – to win the Sprint from P15 on the grid. A day later, Miller comes from P16 to take P6 in his first wet race on the KTM. So, heading to Austin, the duo sit P6 and P8 in the overall standings. Not a bad start at all. But where have they found the pace and improvements since pre-season? Let’s try and decipher it below.
Electronic & engine braking changes in Portimao
When first jumping on the bike at the Valencia Test, Miller said that he could have ridden the KTM RC16 with an “on/off switch for a throttle”. Essentially, Miller couldn’t thread on the power smoothly. However, that’s been massively improved, as shown by Miller’s ability to run at the sharp end all weekend at the Portuguese GP.
The engine brake steps can’t be underestimated either. Typically, the RC16 has been an on-the-limit braking type of motorcycle, which has seen the likes of Binder having to constantly run the harder, and mostly the hardest, front tyre available during race weekends. For the Portuguese GP Sprint, Miller used the soft front and made it work. How?
“I don’t know if you can see with the KTM but the thing is like this (mimes going sideways) coming into the corner,” explained Miller in Portimao. “It was doing that the other day and I wasn’t really decelerating. But having the bike in this position takes a lot of load off the front and I’m not as much on the razor’s edge. But they’ve been able to give me the sliding performance,…