Brad Binder (who won the 2020 GP in Brno on the Factory KTM in only his third Grand Prix in the premier class, and then triumphed at the Austrian manufacturer's home GP, in the rain, in Spielberg in 2021) was often overshadowed by his teammate and rookie, Pedro Acosta, especially in the first half of 2024, while also being put under pressure by excellent performances.
The South African, who was once a model of consistency in the MotoGP World Championship, and recently finished in the Top 6, four times in the final standings, only overtook Acosta in the Riders Championship at the end of the season, when the 20-year-old Spanish rider failed to score points in all four competitions in Japan and Australia.
In an interview with GPone.com in the spring 2024, Pit Beirer realized that the 2024 factory KTM didn't suit Binder's riding style, because Brad wanted a motorcycle that he could feel when riding at the limit and with which he could slide and drift to his heart's content.
Binder later managed a 7th place in Austria and, in the last ten Grand Prixs, he clinched eight Top 8 results on Sunday, including two fourth places in Aragón and Misano 1.
So, was the KTM RC16 reconstructed to meet Binder's needs again last year, after Technical Director Fabiano Sterlacchini left?
"Yes, that happened, in part," KTM Motorsport Director Pit Beirer (52) admitted. "But it's obviously an illusion to say 'We're going to let the bike slide properly, and that's going to make us faster'.
Today, you can no longer afford to let the bike drift mercilessly in every phase, from cornering, to braking, and accelerating, because drifting always means a loss of traction.
But we've taken a step in the right direction in terms of development. Brad now feels more at ease.
We've clearly improved in the areas of cornering, braking, and cornering speed. And that's exactly what Brad wanted."
After the three test days in Sepang (Malaysia), Maverick Viñales was in 16th position, 1.372 seconds behind, while Enea Bastianini was close behind in 18th place on the Tech3-KTM, losing 1.518 seconds to the best time set by Alex Márquez from the Gresini Ducati team.
By comparison, Acosta secured a 6th position (+ 0.682 seconds), and Binder finished the test in 13th place (+ 1.121 seconds). In Buriram, Acosta was in 4th place after two days (+ 0.278 seconds) and Binder (+ 0.877 seconds) in 12th place.
The Tech3 duo, Viñales (+ 0.751 sec) and Bastianini (+ 0.982 sec), finished 9th and 15th.
"It's still evidnet. Four riders express four different wishes. An identical package for everyone doesn't work.
You have to tailor a few little things to each rider individually, so that they can implement their own riding style."
With a "customized system" in 2022, Honda tried to develop individually designed MotoGP bikes for each of the four riders. In the end, no one was competitive anymore.
Marc Márquez only accomplished a disappointing 13th place in the World Championship with the RC213V.
His brand colleagues, Pol Espargaró, Alex Márquez, and Taka Nakagami didn't get past 16th, 17th, and 18th place.
In the meantime, KTM has clear impressions of the different riding styles of the new MotoGP quartet, with Binder and Acosta (Red Bull Factory team) and Viñales and Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3).
"Maverick brakes relatively early, but then has incredible cornering speed and is really fasyt in the straight that follows," Beirer revealed in an interview with GPone.com. "Maverick has the quality to apply the highest cornering speed in high-speed corners.
That's how he achieves his strong lap times. So it makes no sense to build a bike for Maverick that works first-class when braking but then has disadvantages in corners.
On the contrary, Brad squeezes the most out of the last few meters in the braking zone and, if the bike rears up in the rear, he wants an extremely stable front so that he can ride without considering what's happening to the rear.
Brad has to enter corners at the last minute. It's understandable that he doesn't achieve a perfect cornering speed because of he brakes really late. That's why Brad needs a different bike than Maverick.
You can't expect such exceptional talents to fundamentally change their riding style for the sake of the manufacturer. Our engineers must also strive to actively support the riding strengths of our aces."
In 2025, Red Bull KTM will be entering the MotoGP World Championship for the first time with four contenders for the victory.
What results does Beirer expect his protégés to achieve in a week at the start of the season in Buriram? "If get a a rider on the podium, we'd be very happy," he responded.
