Pedro Acosta has given KTM some advice on what needs to be addressed on the RC16, saying that the team needs Brad Binder to be able to perform with the bike as well.
KTM were forced to lean heavily on Acosta during the early races of the season, particularly in Thailand and Brazil. The 21-year-old gave them a solid start by winning the Buriram Sprint before finishing second in Thailand Grand Prix. He was third in the standings after Brazil, with 42 points.
Brad Binder hasn’t had a strong start to his season either, coming into COTA ninth overall with just 13 points from four rounds. Over at Tech3, Enea Bastianini is 17th and Maverick Vinales hasn’t scored a point yet.
“We’re still not where we want,” motorsport director Pit Beirer told DAZN ahead of this weekend’s race at COTA. “There is still work ahead of us. On Friday I spoke with Enea and Maverick (Vinales), who unfortunately hasn’t found his way onto our bike yet.”
Pedro Acosta has told KTM they need to adjust the RC16 if Brad Binder is going to get the most out of it
Acosta led KTM’s efforts once again as Ducati rival Marc Marquez set the pace in practice at the United States GP in the pre-qualifying session. The Spaniard was 0.323s slower than his compatriot’s 2:00.927, while Bastianini and Binder (in P19) were 0.652s and 1.510s slower.
Vinales has withdrawn from the United States GP due to injury, after a screw in his shoulder from his surgery last year became loose. But seeing Binder struggle again shows Acosta that KTM ought to make the RC16 “more consistent” for everyone so they can improve the bike.
“I didn’t feel as bad as in Brazil, but we’re still lacking a bit of engine power,” Acosta said, via quotes by Motosprint. “When we are slipstreaming, we’ve improved a bit, but we’re lacking speed over a single lap.”
“At the moment, all the riders on this bike need to be able to go fast. Enea did really well today, but Brad and Maverick have struggled at the start of the year. Let’s try to choose a more consistent package for everyone so we can gather more information.”
Michele Pirro is “surprised” by the difference between Acosta and Binder in the factory KTM garage this year, with the former performing far better than his teammate. Binder only came P6 as Acosta won Sprint in Buriram, P7 in Thailand GP and P15 in Goiania Sprint.
Binder crashed out of Brazilian GP, which Acosta finished in P9 with a 13.153s margin to Bastianini in P15 as second-best KTM racer. KTM have sacrificed top speed to make RC16 a more complete bike this term, but Binder is yet to profit same way as Acosta.
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