Like the riders, Michelin came to the Valencia tests in “test” mode and brought a hard component for the riders to try out. This wasn’t the case for Brad Binder, as he opted to ride with a double combination of mediums all day, but he admitted he was surprised by the performance… of the soft.
Asked by the press if he had tested the hard tyre, the south african from KTM rider replied: ‘I’ve never used Michelin’s new hard component. I did the whole day with the medium tyre at the front and rear, and on the last exit I put on a soft tyre to see where we could pop up, and I was even very fast, I was very surprised. The whole day we were on not so good tyres, you don’t go so fast and then… It’s amazing what a difference a tyre makes. Putting the soft tyre on was another level’.
The focus is now on the holidays, and the work the team has ahead of them for their return in Malaysia: ‘I finished second, but now it’s time for a break in the season, the guys can move on and hopefully with everything we learnt today, come back to Sepang in much better way’.
Binder was second in the tests and was 0.028s behind Maverick Viñales.