After a more anonymous session in the morning at MotorLand Aragon to end FP1 in P11, Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Brad Binder wound it up a few notches in the afternoon to get back to the top of the timesheets as lap times dropped significantly. The South African, who stands 106 points clear in the championship standings, has his first chance to wrap up the 2016 Moto3™ title at MotorLand and would become the first rider to do so.
Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Andrea Migno was second fastest in FP2 and on Friday after moving up on combined times with an incredible gain of 2.5 seconds, getting back up in the mix and ready to fight for another top grid position. Leopard Racing's Fabio Quartararo - who recently announced a move to Moto2™ in 2017 with Paginas Amarillas HP 40 - completed the top three on Day 1, as the Frenchman bounced back from some more difficult days in his second year in Moto3™, quick in FP1 and consolidating his pace in FP2 to end the day a frontrunner.
Italian rookie Fabio DiGiannantonio (Gresini Racing Moto3) continued to impress in his first year as he proved fourth fastest on Friday, with FP1's quickest Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) completing the top five on combined times. Jorge Martin (Gaviota Mahindra Aspar) was sixth as he comes back from a foot injury that rendered him unable to ride in Misano, ahead of Albert Arenas (Peugeot MC Saxoprint) and second Leopard Racing rider Andrea Locatelli.
Lorenzo dalla Porta (Sky Racing Team VR46) had a good Friday as he gets to grips with full-time Moto3™ competition on the world stage in ninth, with Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil (Drive M7 SIC Racing Team) completing the top ten.
Title contender Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) - who is the closest to Binder in the standings - ended Day 1 in P11, and Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) sat out Friday due to a fever - but the Austrian GP winner expects to be back on track to qualify on Saturday.
Moto3™ head out for their next practice session at 9:00, before qualifying begins at 12:35 local time (GMT +2).