MotoGP Japanese GP: Binder beats lap record in FP2, Marquez and Quartararo crash

After it made its race debut at the San Marino GP with wildcard Dani Pedrosa, KTM has brought its new carbon fibre chassis to Japan for factory riders Binder and Jack Miller.

With the new chassis offering better rear grip on the RC16, Binder used this to maximum effect on the soft rear tyre at the end the second practice to go fastest of all with a 1m43.489s, beating the eight-year-old lap record set by Jorge Lorenzo.

Binder headed championship leader Francesco Bagnaia by 0.029 seconds, while Aleix Espargaro completed the top three for Aprilia, the top three all surpassing Lorenzo's 2015 benchmark.

The Q1 session in qualifying will feature all three previous champions prior to Bagnaia in 2022, as crashes for Yamaha’s Quartararo and Honda’s Marquez left both outside of the top 10.

Joan Mir will also join that trio having been unable to replicate his top five form from FP1 in the afternoon.

The early pace was set by the sister factory Aprilia of Maverick Vinales, who got the ball rolling with a 1m45.837s before improving to a 1m45.219s.

Binder then hit the top of the times 1m45.060s, before Pramac’s Jorge Martin took over with a 1m44.724s inside the first 10 minutes of the 75-minute session.

This stood as the benchmark until just under half an hour to go, when Miguel Oliveira on the RNF Aprilia went top with a 1m44.498s.

Joan Mir, Repsol Honda Team (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Aleix Espargaro went faster with a 1m44.387s 15 minutes later as his lap signalled the beginning of the soft tyre time attack phase of the session.

He was immediately deposed by Binder on a 1m44.255s, before Gresini Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio – whose future remains uncertain amid rumours of Marquez taking his seat – made a surprise leap to the top of the order with a 1m43.947s.

Espargaro made one more bid to secure top spot with a 1m43.784s in the closing four minutes, but could do nothing to repel Binder’s charge to a 1m43.489s.

Bagnaia threatened Binder’s position on his last flying lap, but came up 0.029s short as Espargaro held onto third from FP1 pacesetter Martin and VR46 Ducati’s Marco Bezzecchi.

Di Giannantonio secured a rare Q2 appearance in sixth from Pramac’s Johann Zarco and Vinales, while Pol Espargaro (Tech3 GasGas) and KTM’s Miller – who crashed midway through the session – rounded out the top 10.

Oliveira found himself shuffled out of the top 10 in the end in 11th ahead of Mir – who is riding Honda’s 2024 chassis this weekend – and Quartararo, who suffered an odd but heavy fall on the kerbs on the way into Turn 6 in the latter stages.

Marquez crashed at Turn 1 as he pushed for a place in the top 10 and wound up 14th instead, while Franco Morbidelli was under a tenth clear of Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow in 15th.

Alex Rins only completed six laps on his LCR Honda as he struggles through his return from a lengthy injury-forced spell on the sidelines, and was last on the timesheets.

LCR has confirmed Rins will take no further part in the remainder of the weekend, and is set to be replaced by Honda test rider Stefan Bradl.

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

         

Driver Info			Main Information Additional Data
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	22	1'43.489		167.009
2	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	22	+0.029	0.029	166.962
3	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	20	+0.295	0.266	166.534
4	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	24	+0.354	0.059	166.439
5	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	25	+0.456	0.102	166.276
6	F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing	49		Ducati	21	+0.458	0.002	166.273
7	J. Zarco Pramac Racing	5		Ducati	21	+0.573	0.115	166.089
8	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	24	+0.628	0.055	166.001
9	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44		KTM	19	+0.730	0.102	165.839
10	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	23	+0.772	0.042	165.772
11	M. Oliveira RNF Racing	88		Aprilia	24	+0.828	0.056	165.683
12	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	21	+0.939	0.111	165.507
13	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	21	+1.031	0.092	165.361
14	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93		Honda	23	+1.085	0.054	165.276
15	F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing	21		Yamaha	20	+1.168	0.083	165.145
16	C. Crutchlow Yamalube RS4GP Racing Team	35		Yamaha	22	+1.220	0.052	165.063
17	R. Fernández RNF Racing	25		Aprilia	17	+1.322	0.102	164.902
18	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	23	+1.439	0.117	164.718
19	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	24	+1.742	0.303	164.244
20	M. Pirro Ducati Team	51		Ducati	22	+2.377	0.635	163.259
21	A. Rins Team LCR	42		Honda	6	+3.747	1.370	161.173
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