Brad Binder fastest in second practice after destroying Motegi lap record

Brad Binder topped a thrilling second practice at the Japanese MotoGP, ahead of reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia.

Robert Jones

29 Sep 2023

After finishing seventh in Free Practice 1, Maverick Vinales was the early pacesetter in Practice 2 at Motegi.

Vinales was on par with the time he set this morning before Brad Binder clocked a 1:45.060s which was the quickest lap of the day.

Jorge Martin then moved the benchmark time forward even further as the Indian sprint winner broke into the 1m 44s barrier.

Martin then found another two tenths on his next lap around, as he put the same margin between himself and Binder.

Way down the order, Bagnaia gave his rear tyre a long look after returning to pit lane before voicing his frustration in the garage.

After re-joining the action Bagnaia managed to go from 19th to P11 on his first flying lap.

On course to go quickest, Raul Fernandez became the first rider to crash after losing the front-end at turn ten.

As Bagnaia continued to improve, so did another Ducati rider as Fabio Di Giannantonio went third quickest behind Martin and Binder.

The Gresini rider was quickly moved down to fourth as Miguel Oliveira jumped up to second. The RNF Aprilia rider was very early in switching to a soft rear tyre, which was also the case for Di Giannantonio.

Oliveira’s second time attack lap was a big one as he went clear of Martin by over two tenths, before Fabio Quartararo went second.

After a strong FP1 for Joan Mir, it was teammate Marc Marquez who began to show serious pace aboard his Repsol Honda as he joined Quartararo in getting within a tenth of Oliveira.

Aleix Espargaro was next to put himself in contention after going P4 on his first flying lap. The Aprilia rider then went even quicker as he jumped to the top of the leaderboard by over a tenth.

While top spot changed hands once again as Binder went top, there was drama for Quartararo as the Yamaha rider suffered a big crash at turn six.

Taking a wider line on corner entry, Quartararo went down as soon as he attempted to tip his M1 into the right-hander.

A stunning lap then came in from Di Giannantonio as the Italian went within a couple tenths of the all-time lap record, set by Jorge Lorenzo.

Despite yellow flags being deployed due to Fernandez suffering his second fall of the session, Binder blasted his way to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a new lap record.

The KTM rider went three tenths clear of A. Espargaro, who had momentarily gone fastest.