Hard work starts to pay off for Brad Binder and KTM

After a below-par preseason test in Sepang in February things started to click into place for the KTM team at Portimao ahead of the MotoGP season opener at Portugal’s Algarve circuit on March 26.

SA’s Brad Binder was ninth fastest on the combined timesheets. That was half-a-second off the pace of world champion Francesco Bagnaia on his Ducati, but it signalled that progress was being made by the KTM factory team.

Team manager Francesco Guidotti says the two days in Portimao were all about piecing the 2023 RC16 jigsaw puzzle together. Nothing new was brought for the last two days of testing, and it was all about their riders trying to find their own pathway to success.

Binder’s time-attack lap was a welcome boost, and showed they were much closer to where they want to be. His new team mate, Jack Miller, was 17th fastest, though four-tenths slower.

Ducati again look to be the marque to beat this season based on the Portimao timesheet, which saw six of the Italian machines in the top ten.

The 2021 champion, Fabio Quartararo, was third fastest for Yamaha, and the only other non-Ducati rider in the top 10 besides Quartararo and Binder was Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro in 10th.

Aprilia and Yamaha tested controversial new rear t-wings that improve downforce, though Quartararo set his best time without the wing and said he’s not sure whether the team will race with the “ugly” addition this season. Aprilia, in particular, has escalated the MotoGP aero race with a host of wings and shrouds on its RS-GP bike.

Joan Mir and multiple champion Marc Marquez were 12th and 13th, respectively, in the Portimao test, about eight-tenths off the pace, showing there is work to be done at Repsol Honda.

Extreme Festival heads for Cape Town

The SA National Extreme Festival roadshow heads for Cape Town’s Killarney circuit on March 18.

The country’s premier circuit racing series will see the Global Touring Cars, GTC SupaCup, G+H Extreme Supercars, CompCare Polo Cup, Investchem Formula 1600 and Kawasaki ZX10 Masters in action.

Also on the programme is the Toyota Gazoo Racing Cup, which comprises two classes this year: the GR Yaris league for youngsters starting their ascent up the motorsport ladder, and the GR86 Challenge for motoring journalists. In the latter category, BusinessLIVE’s Denis Droppa will take on media rivals Mark Jones (The Citizen), Reuben van Niekerk (Wheels24), Chad Luckhof (AutoTrader), Brendon Staniforth (Maroela Media) and Setshaba Mashigo (ASAMM) in identical Toyota GR86 cars.

The action can be followed here.