Red Bull KTM Ajo rider finishes first two Free Practice sessions in Argentina in 20th place.

Three weeks since he last got onboard his KTM in Qatar, Darryn Binder was back on his bike this Friday at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina for the first day of Round 2 of the season. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider took an important step forward in his lap times from FP1 to FP2, placing twentieth overall.

As it was the first session of the weekend and the track conditions were slightly dirty, in addition to 94% track humidity, the first 40 minutes of Free Practice were not ideal for putting in fast laps. Darryn Binder started off strong, and was amongst the Top 5 in the early going and the Top 10 with ten minutes to go. From there, the South African was unable to lower his times, and his 1:53.977 lap put him nineteenth.

The track conditions improved significantly in the afternoon, and Binder was able to lower his previous top time on his second hot lap. However, it was not an easy session and he was not able to make definitive progress until his third outing -in which he put in a 1:51.627 that took more than 2 seconds off his FP1 time. The lap allowed him to place twentieth.

Tomorrow, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider will look to claim a spot on the starting grid that allows him to avoid excessive raceday risks. The qualifying session begins at 12:35pm local time (5:35pm CET).

Results (Combined practice times FP1-FP2)
1. Enea Bastianini (Honda) 1:50:397
2. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda) 1:50.805 +0.408
3. Tony Arbolino (Honda) 1:50.858 +0.461
4. Livio Loi (KTM) 1:50.899 +0.502
5. Jorge Martin (Honda) 1:51.001 +0.604
20. Darryn Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:51.627 +1.230

40 DARRYN BINDER
“The feeling we have isn’t bad after this first day in Argentina. We had two difficult Free Practice sessions and, to be honest, with used tyres we have not achieved the best feeling possible on the bike. I think that if we solve some issues that we are suffering and that we have identified, we can be much faster for tomorrow. If the weather is good and we can ride in the dry, I hope to get the most out of our potential. We will see.”