TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands – Round eight of the 2024 MotoGP World Championship brought us to TT Circuit Assen, the first of a double header in the calendar. The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team were greeted to a large and dedicated crowd of MotoGP fans at the flat and famous Assen Circuit.
Assuming 9th and 14th position on the grid, Brad Binder and Jack Miller were poised to take advantage of the narrow but fast track ahead of them with overcast, but mild conditions over the 4.5km track.
With a track that demands both stability and high agility, it was Binder who could find the most out of the KTM RC16 package. Running on a soft tyre, Brad throttled his way into mid-top ten position, and maintained a good pace through the 26 lap race.
Binder managed to secure nine points for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team with a seventh place finish, and was subsequently promoted to sixth place after Marc Marquez’s penalty.
Team mate, Jack Miller fought throughout to collect points, battling for tenth place on many occasion, having started 14th, but crossed the chequered flag 11th.
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager said, “We have some homework to do. Overall, the weekend was not too bad. Brad had a direct Q2 on Friday and a decent Sprint considering the front tire pressure. Our expectation was a bit higher for today but he struggled to run the pace of the front group. We have some useful information and we have to work very hard in the next days.
For Jack, despite the position, he has the feeling that he is ‘back’. We made a strong change from yesterday and he was growing with the new set-up. Another little point where we can start again. Let’s try for more in Germany next weekend.”
Maintaining 7th place in the Riders’ Championship standings, Brad Binder said “Quite a hectic race. I decided to go with the soft rear tire because I felt there might be more potential to go with the boys in front but the reality was that they could put down a super-fast pace with the medium and we just burnt the tire to go with them. It was tricky, for sure.
I would have liked to have walked away with a better result but I left nothing on the table. We have some work to do. My feeling is not terrible. I understand the front limit and I didn’t crash at all this weekend. We just need to find more speed.”
Following the race, Jack Miller said: “Better. We made an improvement over night and was able to run a bit better pace and I had a nice fight and could gain confidence. The change we made gave me more feeling with the front end of the bike and I was happy with that. It’s a base level we can restart with, and fingers crossed we can still look to make some improvements.”
The next race on the Official MotoGP Calendar will be the Grand Prix Deutschland at the Sachsenring on 5th-7th July.