MotoGP Japan Practice LIVE: Brad Binder in the lead, Zarco in Q2 but Quartararo in Q1

Jorge Martin set the fastest time in the first free practice session of the MotoGP class Japanese Grand Prix, the 14th round of the 2023 MotoGP championship scheduled at Mobility Resort Motegi. The driver of the Prima Pramac Racing team was the protagonist of a fall, fortunately without consequences and recorded his best lap in 1'45.192, ahead of the RC16 of the Tech3 GASGAS team of Augusto Fernandez, who was able to benefit a new soft tire. Follows the Ducati of the Mooney VR46 team of Marco Bezzecchi.

Fourth beat for Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), in front Joan mir, victim of a fall, fortunately without consequences for the Repsol Honda team driver. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) finished in sixth position ahead of the Aprilia Maverick Vinales. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) finished eighth ahead of the Yamaha of fabio quartararo and the Aprilia of Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP) to close the TOP 10 times.

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) is only thirteenth, more than eight tenths behind the leader of the standings. Alex Rins is back on the track after a long stop due to a broken leg. The LCR Honda team rider will receive a visit after this session to assess whether he will be fit to continue the weekend. Also present at Motegi, Cal Crutchlow, a test pilot Yamaha who will be a wild card at the Japanese Grand Prix.

What will this test session have in store for us, which is decisive for direct entry into Q2? Before you know it, here is the table that summarizes the facts known so far...

Motegi MotoGP™	2019	2022
FP1	1'44.509 Jack Miller (See here)	1'45.192 Jorge Martin (See here)
FP2	1'55.232 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'43.489 Brad Binder (See here)
FP3	CANCELLATIONDUE TO RAIN (See here)
Q1	1'55.300 Johann Zarco (See here)
Q2	1'45.763 Marc Márquez (See here)
Warm up	1'45.850 Jorge Martin (See here)
Course	Miller, Brad Binder, Martin (See here)
All time lap record	1'43.790 Jorge Lorenzo (2015)

At the end of the 60-minute session in the Japanese afternoon we will know which 10 drivers are directly qualified for Q2. The weather is comparable to that of FP1 this morning. The sun is shining, with only a few clouds in the sky above Motegi. Temperatures are 28 degrees in the air and 36 degrees on the asphalt.

Unlike this morning, almost all riders now use a hard tire at the front, only Di Giannantonio always uses a medium tire at the front. At the rear, around half the peloton is using medium, the other half is already using soft. Vinales started the session well and found himself at the top of the ranking in 1'45.837 minutes. Binder follows two tenths of zarco et Quarterlythen Martin in P5.

Binder is at the top for the first time, taking the lead in 1'45.060 minutes – the best time of the weekend so far. Then Vinales before zarco et Martin, who lost a lot of time in the 3rd sector behind Marc Marquez. Everyone drives with a soft rear. Then George Martin slams a 1'44.895.

Guidotti de KTM to the microphones of his SKY colleagues: « We use the chassis that Pedrosa used in Misano. There is one for Brad and one for Jack, even if in the end Augusto was in front of them this morning. We will try this chassis as much as possible to get feedback in the different possible conditions, which are perhaps different from those found by Dani during the tests. 

George Martin shows its dazzling form in 1'44.724. An overview of the ranking after 10 minutes.

Vinales et zarco also make a good impression. Quarterly on P5 is the best driver with a medium rear. Bezzecchi, fifth, can come within 0,377 seconds of the best time. It also rides with a soft rear, but can't keep up with the pace of Martin. bagnaia, championship leader does not yet seem comfortable. He has only completed four laps and is already back in the pits where they are working hard. Although he rode on medium, he is only in 19th position, 1,3 seconds behind.

Tardozzi (Ducati) : " We restored the length of the chain, a routine job. The rear tire was pushing a little, with this outing we completed a test that started during Free Practice 1. Now, I am sure, we will see a fast Pecco"

Quarterly now climbs to 4th place, which continues to have an excellent pace with the average. The other drivers in front of him all used a soft rear, Fabio has excellent potential. With a medium rear of eight laps, he only needs 0,308 seconds. Morbidely, on the other hand, is now 15th.

bagnaia is now back on the track. He continues to ride on hard tires. The team Ducati has she now found a solution to the reigning world champion’s problems? Raul Fernandez fall at turn 10.

alex rins is also participating in this session in Japan. According to a press release from his team, things went better than expected for the return of MotoGP in the morning. “ Considering the injury, the many weeks without racing and everything else, the first training session went 'better' than we initially thought“, they say.

bagnaia now establishing good benchmarks in the early sectors, Pecco has found the confidence to push. Pecco finished in 10th position, taking an excellent step forward. He used a medium, so he's not in a time trial setup and there are about 35 minutes until the checkered flag in Japan. Olive tree is second.

Olive tree clocks a 1'44.498 which puts him in the lead... Ahead Quarterly. Martin shows that the soft rear tire can also be a real option for racing: after 13 laps he achieved a consistent time of 1'44,9, only 0,2 seconds slower than his fastest lap.

Miller crash at turn 11. He was ninth.

Johann zarco shoots straight into the gravel. He is seventh.

We have not seen Kidneys for a while. The LCR driver only completed four laps and was 2,7 seconds behind in the end. Is the pain still too bad? A withdrawal for the rest of the weekend in Japan seems possible.

Several changes for Pecco Bagnaia, who has entered the pits several times and is trying various solutions to perform better. He is eleventh behind Marc Marquez and therefore potentially in Q1.

Marc Marquez passes third, without aspiration, he is 76 thousandths from the head of operations. The last quarter of an hour begins with a Aleix Espargaró in leader in 1'44.387. Mir passes seventh. Brad Binder responds in 1'44.255, ahead Martin which therefore pushes the official Aprilia third.

Quartararo crashes at turn 6. 

His motorcycle is destroyed and he has to leave it in the gravel trap. The Frenchman himself also seems a little out of sorts. He lost his front while turning onto the sidewalk. There are ten minutes left.

bagnaia et Bezzecchi launch with new soft tires, the attacks on the time begin in Japan for the two Ducati riders. During this time, Vinales climbs to second place, bringing Aprilia back to third place in the top five. Bezzecchi does not exceed 9th place, 0,245 seconds behind. bagnaia doesn’t even finish until P13!

Fabio Di Giannantonio set the best time in 1'43.947 six minutes from the goal.

Quarterly will leave with a new suit. He is tenth. All the drivers come back to the pits to change tires, and of course, new soft tires are fitted everywhere at the rear. Then all drivers immediately return to the track.

Pecco Bagnaia did the job in the last minute by taking second place. Marc Marquez fall in the vitage 1. Yellow flag … Before the checkered flag which guards Brad Binder in front Bagnaia Aleix Espargaró Jorge Martin et Bezzecchi. The protagonists in the title race are therefore in the top 5. Johann zarco is seventh. Jack Miller is the last qualifier for Q2. In Q1 in Japan we will notably find Quarterly et Marc Marquez.

Practice results for the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com