KTM delivered a strong practice effort to kick off the MotoGP Catalan GP. But the Austrian manufacturer found it difficult to hold off rivals for the top spots, particularly in the main race. Although the performance has improved over the course of the weekend, Ducati’s performance was superior.
The best-performing KTM rider, Brad Binder, had a drop in performance and ended up in a respectable eighth place, even though he had once finished close to the podium in the top four.
“It looks like that for some reason this year we notice when we get for the race on Sunday in particular the track is the most green it is all weekend,” the South African rider said, explaining that this season has witnessed a constant reduction in grip from practice sessions to the main race. For example, FP1’s grip is far superior to the race’s.
KTM’s performance suffers in these circumstances because, according to Binder, the RC16 has greater difficulty functioning properly when it has minimal grip.
One of our main problems is that we find it really difficult to get the transfer working properly and to operate our bike when the grip is missing. I believe that we should have a basic understanding of what occurs. The track turns quite green; I’m not sure if that’s because all of the Moto2 rubber absorbs our rubber or something else entirely. Thus, yes, it appears that we are having a little more difficulty than the rest in that circumstance.
