Brad Binder finished the weekend 9th fastest while Jack Miller was 17th, however both were less than one second off times that shattered the Portimao lap-record.
Following the first round of testing in Malaysia, MotoGP teams reassembled once more to bask in the sunshine of the Algarve to run their final preparations for the 2023 season.
The two-day session allowed the Red Bull KTM team to test solutions and options to be ready for the 21-race championship including a brand new Sprint format. The weekend also provided a prime opportunity to look towards optimum settings for the Grande Premio de Portugal at the same fast and technical circuit at the end of March.
Discussing the team’s performance over the weekend was Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager, who said: “This test was the first time we tried the 2023 spec of the bike and we had some unexpected issues but also some progress.”
He continued, “we perhaps don’t have enough time now to fix everything but we hope to give the riders a better package asap. Jack is gaining confidence and speed run-by-run and Brad was a bit surprised by this test but turned it around today. We know where we need to improve and thanks to the whole team for another big effort. Let’s get the season underway now.”
Testing provided the second opportunity for riders, Binder and Miller, to provide their feedback on the RC16s having logged plenty of laps round the 15 corner and 4.5 km layout in southern Portugal.
Looking back on the final day, Brad Binder said, “we made a good step forward today. We had to re-think things last night because I wasn’t that happy with what we were doing: the team did a great job to make me more comfortable on the bike and I could push a bit harder. We are closer to where we need to be. The time attack went better than I expected. There is definitely a step we can still make before the race but I think we are more or less ready to go into the season.”
The track conditions were consistent across the weekend and ideal for testing duties, even if the undulations of the track and diversity of the curves means it is a unique setting for bike behavior and competitiveness. The weekend as a whole has improved the team and the riders’ familiarity with the new RC16s ahead of the new season.
After the final day of testing, Jack Miller reflected, “We’re getting there. We cut almost another second today and got closer to the top rider who was six tenths under the lap-record! I’m just trying to understand the bike and try different things to get comfortable. We are improving every day and it is taking some time but we’re getting to a decent spot before the first race. Our [engine] maps need a little polishing but I think we can be quietly confident.”
Binder occupied P6 at one stage and ended the second day as 9th fastest, just half a second from P1 and close to the lap record. The South African was looking for rear grip but noted an improvement during the sessions on Sunday.
Sebastian Risse, Red Bull KTM Technical Manager MotoGP, was in agreement with Binder stating, “we had a difficult start to the test and had to work through a lot on the first day. The main topic for some riders was rear grip, and looking at the lap-times overall, it was clear that the track [on Sunday] was in better shape and this helped us but we also improved our cause.”
“We made a step and now we just have to see how much we can transfer this on the race weekend. I think we can be happy with the evolution we made these two days and we have the baseline. Now that we have had this test everybody should be up to pace right away at the GP and I think there is still some room to work there.”
Miller, who is still trying to unlock the full possibilities of the race bike in what was just his third outing, was continually making gains. The Australian was just nine tenths of a second from the peak of the overall classification.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing now have a few precious days back at the race workshop in Munderfing to condense the rest of the data accumulated in Portugal before the whole effort returns to the Algarve for the first real race action of ’23 on March 25-26.