The track-specific reason behind Brad Binder’s surprising Austrian MotoGP speed

Friday at the Austrian MotoGP was dominated by KTM and Pedro Acosta, and it was a better-than-usual start for the Spaniard’s team-mate Brad Binder, too.

Binder finished the Practice session eighth-fastest, while Acosta topped both sessions.

For the rider who has struggled to be inside the top-10 consistently this season, it was an upturn in form for Binder compared to what has become his norm over the past two years.

“Well, much more positive day than I've had recently,” Brad Binder summarised, speaking after MotoGP Practice at the Red Bull Ring.

“Super-happy to be straight into the Q2 session. 

“Felt pretty good from the first laps this morning [in FP1]. 

“I just really focused on trying to have the best rhythm possible right on my own, and just take small bites out of it each run. 

“Super-stoked to have gone straight through; it was much nicer going into the last run looking for a couple tenths rather than one second. 

“Not a bad day. I think it's going to give us the opportunity to work much better tomorrow in the free practice session. 

“If we can put together a decent enough qualifying and see how we manage to race.”

Binder explained that one of the reasons for his stronger performance at the Red Bull Ring compared to previous races is the harder tyre construction that Michelin uses at the Austrian track to deal with the amount of heat generated in the tyre by the quantity and frequency of hard accelerations around the 10-turn layout.

These kind of 'heat dissipation' tyres are used in other circuits, too, like Buriram and Mandalika, but the one used at the Red Bull Ring is used only in Austria and Brazil.

“I think our bike works better here,” the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider said. 

“I think with this different rear tyre it doesn't push the front as much and I don't have the big issues on the front I normally have. 

“So it gives me a bit more confidence just to go out and ride my bike.”

Binder admitted, though, that it’s still not easy to put a lap together, such is the challenge of the low-grip Red Bull Ring track.

“To be honest, I think there's a couple tenths there,” he said.

“But I think [it’s the same for] everybody. It's hard to do this track like super-clean because if you miss the braking marker by like half-a-metre, you pay for it. 

“So, a bit tricky for sure.”

One of the most frequent error-generators on Friday was the downhill braking zone at turn four. The LCR Honda riders had particular issues there, with Johann Zarco running on twice there after crashing in Practice, and Diogo Moreira also going wide there on multiple occasions.

Marc Marquez also had a moment there, as did Marco Bezzecchi.

But, for Binder, the corner was less of a problem thanks, he says, to the strong stopping performance of the RC16.

“Our bike's working really well into turn four actually,” he said.

“To be honest, the strongest point we have is stopping. 

“So I feel like we're stopping well and the bike's hooking up better than it ever has. So let's see if we can keep it going.”