Image: Supplied.

MotoGP rookie Brad Binder admits he was surprised by his form on the final day of testing at Qatar, where he wound up ninth on the timesheets and just 0.425s off pace-setter Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP).

The Red Bull KTM Factory Racing rider set the ninth fastest time on Monday with a lap of 1m54.283s, which came after a number of set-up changes sorted the challenges he previously faced.

“I was quite surprised to be honest,” Binder commented. “I felt comfortable and we made some changes today that helped me a lot and sorted many of my issues. I put in a new set of tyres and ‘bam!’ the lap-time came. The bike was good.

“I felt way more comfortable to get it stopped, turned quicker and also get on the throttle earlier. Once we figured that part out then it was a lot easier to put a fast lap together but it was still quite difficult to do 22 of them, so I have a long way to go! We made some good steps these three days and the team has been awesome. I’m looking forward to continuing at the GP.”

The South African was 0.340s quicker than teammate and long-time KTM pilot Pol Espargaro, who was 14th on the timesheets on day three.