Brad stages Indonesian Sprint Race fightback after technical issues in Q1

The 2024 Grand Prix campaign landed in Lombok for the first of five overseas events in six weeks and Red Bull KTM Factory Racing had to deal with relentless heat for the opening chapter of the Indonesian fixture, with Brad Binder taking his KTM RC16 to 13th position in the Sprint at Mandalika.

MotoGP first raced in Indonesia in 1996 but the impressive and relatively new expanses of the Mandalika facility brough the series back to Lombok Island for the third year in a row. The track is flat and situated at sea level with 17 corners of varying speed and technical challenges. The surface was reasonably grippy and became faster and less slick with every passing session.

Both and teammate Miller worked on set-up configuration on Friday and to maximize turning capability as the MotoGP lap times dipped under the lap record. Eighteen riders were separated by less than one second as the first two rows of the provisional grid on Friday lapped at a pace quicker than the 2023 Pole Position effort.

The South African went into Q1 Saturday morning but was unlucky to suffer a broken rear brake protector that limited his time to set a ‘flyer’ and he was 19th. Getting away from the seventh row, Brad was very proactive and was busy in traffic to gather data for the longer race distance on Sunday. He crossed the line in 13th for a Sprint race that was already more than eight seconds faster than 2023.

Brad Binder
19th in qualification, 13th in the Sprint:

“Practice was going OK and qualifying really good until a technical problem that put me 19th on the grid. I got an insane start today, so good, but the ride height device didn’t unclip until Turn 11. I lost time but then my lap-times were not bad. We sacrificed too much ground on that first lap. I’ll try and be a bit smarter tomorrow and I think we can achieve a lot more.”