Brad Binder beats Nakagami by half a tenth

Red Bull KTM Factory Racing star Brad Binder pipped Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) to the first MotoGP™ P1 of 2022 at the Grand Prix of Qatar. The South African’s 1:54.851 was 0.056s better than the Japanese rider’s effort, as Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) rounded out the top three.

Pol Espargaro and Repsol Honda Team teammate Marc Marquez made it three Hondas in the top five to kick off the season, with 0.2s splitting the fastest quintet.

Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team) encountered an early issue when his YZR-M1’s belly pan was loose, thankfully nothing came of it for the South African rookie. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) crashed unhurt with just over 15 minutes to go at Turn 3.

Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), the runner-up in 2021, then crashed at Turn 6 with five minutes to go – rider ok. The front of the Italian’s GP22 washed away early into the braking zone, an early mistake for Pecco in 2022, he ended FP1 in P18.

MotoGP™ is back ladies and gentlemen, as we now await FP2 getting underway at 18:00 local time (GMT+3) in Doha.

Top 10:
1. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) – 1:54.851
2. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 0.056
3. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.127
4. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.275
5. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.286
6. Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.443
7. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.520
8. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.527
9. Alex Marquez (LCR Honda Castrol) + 0.534
10. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) 

FULL RESULTS!