Brad Binder was the leader of an exciting practice session for the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix. The rider set a new track record at Motegi with a time of 1m43.489s, but two other riders also managed to be faster than the previous record… which was already eight years old. Miguel Oliveira finished 11th, missing out on Q2 by just 0.056s.
Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) was the initial leader of the session, ahead of Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) and Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac/Ducati). The first two then swapped positions. Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) took the lead for the first time with his third lap… and immediately set the best time of the day so far, with a lap time in the 1m44s.
There was some stability in the positions after that, despite some improvements in lap times. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) eventually reached third place. About half an hour before the checkered flag, Oliveira (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team/Aprilia) moved up to second and then took the lead.
Shortly after, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) put himself on the Portuguese’s trail. He was only surpassed in the last quarter of an hour by Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) and then by Binder who returned to the top. The fluctuations in the timing table were starting at a time when it was essential to be fast.
Eight minutes before the end, Di Giannantonio surpassed Binder to become the leader. The South African would be beaten by Aleix Espargaró, but reacted and regained the lead right after with a new record lap. At that point, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) was lagging behind on the table, but recovered to second place.
Until the end, nothing else changed at the front. Binder was the fastest with a 0.029s lead over Bagnaia, with Aleix Espargaró in third. Martín and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) completed the top five. Oliveira lost momentum in the final part and finished only in 11th place, missing direct qualification for Q2 by 56 thousandths.
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