11th for KTM’s Miller in scorching Tissot Sprint
Words and images courtesy KTM
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. Jack Miller scored 11th place in the Sprint at Mandalika with Brad Binder taking his KTM RC16 to 13th position. The former earned the best qualification spot with 16th on the grid after the morning Q1/Q2 dice.
Miller sweats out a decent effort to 11 after a multi-rider scrap for the Sprint top ten. The Aussie gains five spots after starting from 16th on the grid. A six position comeback from P19 to P13 for Binder through the 13-lap Sprint on Saturday afternoon and after a technical glitch in the morning Q1 run
Jose Antonio Rueda represents the KTM GP Academy with P10 in Moto3 qualifying as the team also look to more Moto2 competitiveness with Deniz Öncü setting a marker in 11th after Q2
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 Binder and 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 and Australian went into Q1 Saturday morning and Miller placed 6th while Binder 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 sixth and seventh rows, Jack made bright progress right away to lunge into the top ten. He almost kept the spot, right on the fridge of Sprint points, until Jorge Martin passed him on the last lap. Brad was also 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.
Miller said: “A solid second day here in Mandalika. The bike was working pretty good, I’m happy enough. I was able to do a decent enough race today from not a great qualifying position. Just lacking performance through the faster corners and everything I’m making up in sectors 1, 3 and 4 I lose there. We have some homework to do to sort that out and hopefully the medium tire will help us tomorrow.”
Binder added: “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.”
Results Qualifying MotoGP Indonesia Grand Prix
1. Jorge Martin (ESP) Ducati 1:29.088
2. Marco Bezzecchi (ITA) Ducati +0.535
3. Pedro Acosta (ESP) GASGAS +0.583
16. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:30.385 (Q1)
19. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1:30.582 (Q1)
21. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS 1:31.086 (Q1)
Results MotoGP Sprint Indonesia Grand Prix
1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati 19:41.354
2. Enea Bastianini (ITA) Ducati +0.107
3. Marc Marquez (ESP) Ducati +1.701
6. Pedro Acosta (ESP) GASGAS +6.210
11. Jack Miller (AUS) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +9.618
13. Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing +11.118
DNF. Augusto Fernandez (ESP) GASGAS