KTM’s Brad Binder reigned supreme and stole the show to lead the way in Motegi’s second MotoGP practice session.
Out of nowhere, the South African rider produced together multiple fastest laps before he posted the best lap time of the afternoon, a 1.43.436s.
Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin were his nearest challengers, with KTM as a potential threat for both Sprint and Grand Prix victory in Japan.
Due to the interchangeable conditions, riders completed only a few runs in the first practice. The skies looked clearer mid-afternoon, with the track looking less damp, so all riders made the most of the hour-long session.
Multiple riders took their turn to go top of the timesheets provisionally, with Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, the two championship title rivals, appearing to have the edge over the rest of the field once they made their respective runs on the GP24 in the early stages.
Pedro Acosta maintained his rapid pace from the last round in Indonesia to secure fourth spot, with Enea Bastianini finishing fifth on his spare bike following a fast crash at Turn 14 in the session’s early stages.
Maverick Vinales and Bagnaia occupied sixth and seventh spots respectively, with the GP23 Gresini and VR46 riders trio of Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi rounding off the top ten.
All Ducati riders, bar Franco Morbidelli, secured top ten finishes, showing Ducati’s dominance around the Japanese circuit. The GP24 Pramac rider could only deliver 13th spot, with Miller and hometown hero Takaaki Nakagami finishing ahead in 11th and 12th.
Jack Miller mustered together a competitive session until the final phase when he crashed out at Turn 3, which put him under pressure and consequently lost him his Q2 qualification spot.
Fabio Quartararo finished a lonely 14th, with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro a distant 15th for factory Aprilia who was unable to display the pace of his team-mate.
Joan Mir finished the session as the lead Repsol Honda rider, with LCR’s Johann Zarco placing himself in a lacklustre 17th. Zarco went down at Turn 5 in the final minute, ruling out any possibility of back-to-back Q2 appearances.
Raul Fernandez himself had a minor crash at Turn 3, with Trackhouse Racing enduring hardship on its first weekend at Motegi. The American outfit struggled and occupied the tail end of positions, with both riders running limited lap times in first practice. He finished 18th and 1.258s off the pace.
Augusto Fernandez went down at Turn 10 on a hot lap in the opening parts of the session, as the GasGas rider rarely looked competitive. Despite KTM’s rapid speed, he finished a distant 19th.
Alex Rins finished in 20th ahead of Honda’s Luca Marini, with Aprilia test rider and stand-in Lorenzo Savadori occupying second last place.
Remy Gardner was the last rider on the grid once again, who arrived in Motegi as the Yamaha wild card this weekend to replace Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow.
