South African achieves fifth fastest time on second day of Official Test. Bo Bendsneyder places twentieth.

Brad Binder, Jerez Moto3 test March 2016

The second day of the Moto2 and Moto3 Official Test at Jerez saw big progress for Brad Binder, who after a tricky Wednesday was fast from the opening laps. The South African improved his times from Day 1 and was the fastest of the second session, with a time that placed him fifth at the end of the day. Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate Bo Bendsneyder improved session after session, and was less than a tenth off his time from yesterday.

Fog and low track temperatures led to the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders delaying their first outing on track by an hour on Thursday morning. Bendsneyder suffered a light crash early on, but escaped unharmed from his fall at Turn 1. In the second session, Binder took a huge step forward, riding in the 1:46’s for the first time and ending the run as the fastest rider, with a time of 1:46.626. Whilst he would not improve upon that time in the final session, Bendsneyder lowered his personal best of the day in the final hour with a 1:47.947 lap.

Binder and Bendsneyder completed the day with 53 and 35 laps, respectively. Tomorrow will see the third and final day of testing at the Jerez Circuit.

Results – Combined Standings Day 2
1. Romano Fenati (KTM) 1:46.445
2. Jorge Navarro (Honda) 1:46.505 +0.060
3. Nicolo Antonelli (Honda) 1:46.550 +0.105
4. Nicolo Bulega (KTM) 1:46.600 +0.155
5. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:46.626 +0.181
20. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:47.947 +1.502

Brad Binder,
“This morning I felt much better. We made changes to the setup, and from the very first laps I felt much better, especially with the rear. The day was great. I was able to ride consistently and I felt strong throughout the session. In the last part we tried a few things, but they did not work our as we wanted. We had some bad luck, because one of my best laps came under a red flag; it was a fantastic lap, but I was not able to finish it. Nevertheless, I feel solid and comfortable. We need to continue working to find the best settings for the race here, but that will be another story.
The changes we have made to the chassis configuration allowed me to take corners more easily and open the gas earlier. It’s a setup that works best when the tyres are new, because as the laps go by and the tyre goes off I find it harder. For a single lap it is really good. Tomorrow we will continue working on this and see what happens.”

Bo Bendsneyder,
“It was a difficult day today. We were not able to improve our top lap. In the first session I had a small crash, and then I tried to pick up the pace but found it a little hard. We will continue testing things out tomorrow to allow us to improve our lap time and pace. Of course, in the last day we will work to improve the general setup of the bike.”