Red Bull KTM Factory Racing restarted the 2024 MotoGP world championship in rapid style with Brad Binder rushing to 4th position in the British Grand Prix Saturday Sprint. Teammate Jack Miller took his works KTM RC16 to a positive 7th after a bright and warm day of action at the historic Silverstone circuit near England’s midlands.
The British Grand Prix holds a special place in the MotoGP schedule for two reasons. Firstly, the Isle of Man formed part of the inaugural FIM World Championship in 1949 as one of six rounds. The distinction is significant in 2024 for MotoGP’s 75th ‘birthday’. Secondly, Silverstone is one of the fastest, oldest and longest tracks on the calendar, initially used for the GP in 1977 and then every year for MotoGP since 2010.
Brad Binder and Jack Miller got down to business after a short break in the agenda where the team was able to reflect and work on improvements for the second half of the season. Decent progress was seen on Friday as Miller confirmed P5 and Binder made sure of P7 and therefore both riders went straight into Saturday’s Q2 outing for final grid positions. It was Binder who emerged as the quickest: just over half a second away from Pole Position and acquiring 6th for his efforts (the final slot on the second row). Miller was 11th through a cloudy and breezy 15-minute qualification.
The tenth Sprint of the year lasted for ten laps and Binder fought for track space on the edge of podium positions in the first minutes of the chase. Contact with Pedro Acosta did not stop his progress and P4 by the end of the dispute represented a solid haul and decent prep work for Sunday. Jack was also in the middle of the melee for points, even if he did lose some bodywork through contact with another rider. His increased speed kept him in play and 7th equaled his second-best Sprint ranking of the year.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing will burst into motion at 14.00 CEST with their special retro livery (full info on the design can be seen HERE) in place to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the series.
Brad Binder, 6th in qualification, 4th in the Sprint: “Quite cool to finish 4th but of course I want much more. I went with the front guys at the beginning and made a couple of mistakes early on which cost me some time. I gave it my best and that’s all there was for us today. Tomorrow we need to play the long game and keep the tires until the end. I think we can do a bit better.”
Jack Miller, 11th in qualification, 7th in the Sprint: “Not bad. I went with the medium rear tire and it was good. I lost a wing in the first corners but the bike behaved pretty well considering, and I cannot complain too much. It’s tough from the fourth row here in Silverstone and I didn’t get the best jump, so I’ll be working on that for tomorrow.”
Francesco Guidotti, Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Team Manager: “Back on track after the summer break and we started well: both of our riders into Q2 on Friday and Jack back performing well. The Sprint was good even if Jack had some bad luck with the contact but the choice with the rear tire paid off by the end of the race. Brad’s 4th place was pretty good and, overall, we have data to plan our strategy for Sunday’s race.”
