Binder: “Jack pointed us in a very good direction, we have more in the pipeline”

Brad Binder believes the addition of Jack Miller to KTM has played a big role in the Austrian manufacturer closing the gap to Ducati in MotoGP.

Robert Jones

17 Aug 2023

Brad Binder, MotoGP race, British MotoGP, 6 August

Binder and Miller have both been extremely competitive at times in 2023, with the former winning two MotoGP sprint races.

And while the gap between Ducati and KTM has shrunk compared to last season, the Italian manufacturer still holds an advantage.

That has been evident in the Grand Prix’, although Binder’s ability to extract the best from his machine, as he did again at Silverstone, has put him in position to win when other KTM riders have been off the pace of the lead group.

Ready to fight for a world title, Binder said this about his chances going forward with KTM.

"This is the strongest I’ve ever been. I feel good on the bike and I understand the class better than I have in the past.

"I feel like I’m ready to do good things. There’s nothing in the world I’d enjoy more than winning a title with KTM.

"I’ve been with them since I was 13 in the Red Bull Rookies Cup. It’s been a long road together. We’ve had ups, a lot of them, but some tough stages too.

"We’ve always achieved, or been really close, to what we want. That’s the end goal. To get there, you’ve got to do everything correctly.

"You need to forget and just focus on what you can do on the day. We’ve been fighting the Ducatis every weekend. They have strong points but we have ours. Going into the second half of the year, we have points to work on. We can take the fight to them."

One of the reasons Binder believes KTM can challenge Ducati going forward is due to the addition of Miller, who left the factory Ducati team at the end of 2022 and has helped push the project on as a result of his extensive knowledge about the Desmosedici.

Admitting more is yet to come in terms of performance, Binder added: "We have a little more in the pipeline… Jack climbed off the bike to beat last season, and he’s brought us a lot of knowledge.

"He pointed us in a very good direction of where we should do. We’ve seen the benefits. KTM have done an unreal job bringing small updates from last season.

"But the base of the bike is similar. Our performances have always been there or thereabouts. If we keep the level, with less mistakes, we can do really well in the second half.

"Barring some mistakes that I’ve made, it could be better. I’m fourth in the championship. I don’t want to be fourth, I want to be further up than that. I’ve got nothing to lose."