Brad Binder: The new KTM engine? “You feel the rev limiter sooner…”

Brad Binder, who already holds the all-time MotoGP top speed record of 366.1km/h (227.5mph) from last year’s Mugello sprint, has an even more powerful KTM engine for 2024.

While the Austrian factory will start the new season, in Qatar this weekend, with the carbon fibre frame introduced at the end of 2023, the rest of the RC16 has been updated over the winter.

Although aerodynamics caught the eye, there is also a revised engine spec. Binder revealed the RPM rises faster and reaches the limiter sooner, but crucially without altering the character of the engine.

“Engine feeling wise and riding wise, you don't even notice [the power increase],” said the South African. “You just feel the RPM [rise] up a little bit earlier or the limiter come in a little bit sooner. So it's always ideal when it [happens] like that.”

Unfortunately for KTM, Ducati and, surprisingly, Yamaha have also impressed at the head of the top speed charts during pre-season testing. Although the real power hierarchy won’t become clear until all the bikes go head-to-head in Saturday’s season-opening Sprint.

Meanwhile, although only ninth on the timesheets at the end of testing, Binder’s fast laps were lost to yellow flags and he was one of only two riders to put in a full 22-lap race simulation.

Binder’s main concern had been to avoid a repeat of the front tyre issues that struck during last November’s race, when he was left to fight a defensive battle against Alex Marquez and Fabio di Giannantonio for fifth.

“The big thing is that last year we were fighting for the podium and on lap 10 my front tyre was finished,” said Binder, fourth and the top non-Ducati rider in last year's world championship. “That's what we've got to check.”

Fortunately for the 28-year-old, there was no repeat this time around and he set a pace ten-seconds faster than Fabio di Giannantonio’s winning time at November’s MotoGP.

But will that be enough? We'll find out this weekend...