CIP Green Power's Darryn Binder put in an impressive final lap of FP1 to help the South African to take top spot in the opening Moto3™ session of the Michelin Aragon Grand Prix by over three tenths of a second.
The Catalan Grand Prix victor jumped to the top of the timesheets with the chequered flag out to steal the fastest lap of Friday morning away from SKY Racing Team VR46's Celestino Vietti, with Petronas Sprinta Racing's John McPhee taking the final place inside the top three.
A frantic finish to #Moto3 FP1! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) October 16, 2020
Catalunya winner @DarrynBinder40 emerges on top ahead of Le Mans winner Celestino Vietti! ????#AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/kgbeGNBoGe
Cold temperatures early on Friday morning caught out both Ryusei Yamanaka (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) with some parts of the track registering a track temperature of less than eight degrees. By the end of FP1, the sun was starting to shine in Alcañiz and that saw lap times begin to tumble, with Binder one of the final men across the line ending up fastest.
Red Bull KTM Ajo's Raul Fernandez was fourth fastest at the close of FP1, half a second adrift of Binder, with SIC58 Squadra Corse's Niccolo Antonelli closing out the session in fifth. It was a strong showing for the Husqvarna duo of Alonso Lopez and Romano Fenati as the Sterilgarda Max Racing Team sat first and second in the early runnings, bouncing back from their double disaster in Le Mans, before then Lopez eventually slipped back to sixth and Fenati down to ninth.
Turn 2 can really bite here! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) October 16, 2020
Thankfully @yamanaka_ryusei is back on his feet after this highside! ????#AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/2gmwkC56cV
Honda Team Asia's Ai Ogura was seventh and was surrounded by his compatriots in the top ten with SIC58 Squadra Corse's Tatsuki Suzuki less than a tenth behind him in eighth, plus teammate Yuki Kunii took the final place inside a top ten covered by 0.865 of a second.
Top 10:
1. Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) – 1:59.813
2. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.331
3. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.503
4. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.554
5. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.696
6. Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.758
7. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) + 0.765
8. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.835
9. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.843
10. Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia) + 0.865