Japanese MotoGP: 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. 
Brad Binder, KTM MotoGP Motegi 2023
Brad Binder, KTM MotoGP Motegi 2023

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

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

Jorg⛎e Martin then moved the bench💧mark 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 the๊ 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 man🧜aged 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 losin🦹g the front-e꧙nd at turn ten. 

As Bagnaia continued to improve,🌞 so did another Ducati rider as Fabio Di Giannantonio went third quickest behind M𝔍artin 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 ca𓆉se for Di G💮iannantonio.

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 Mar༒quez who began to show serious pace aboard his Repsol Honda as he joined Quartararo in getting𒊎 within a tenth of Oliveira. 

Aleix Espargaro was next to put himself in contention after going P4 on his f✱irst flying lap. The Aprilia rider th🅰en 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, Qu🧜artararo went down as soo꧑n as he attempted to tip his M1 into the right-hander.

A stunningﷺ 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 su♐ffering his second fall of the session, Binder blasted his way to the top of the leaderboard thanks to a new lap record.

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

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