Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) wasn’t hanging around in FP2 as he set a new lap record to sit over half a second clear on Day 1 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. The 1:34.622 was unmatchable on Friday afternoon and it was Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (MB Conveyors Speed Up) who sat as the South African’s closest rivals.
From the outset, Binder was a man on a mission. The in-form rider was 0.3 clear of the rest as most of the intermediate class were able to find time from the morning session fairly early on in FP2. For much of the session it was Binder leading Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), but with 10 minutes to go, Di Giannantonio made a move into P2 as the classification started to juggle. Could anyone beat Binder though? Yes – the man himself. After a getting out of the seat just minutes before, Binder then set about setting a flyer, and that’s exactly what his lap time was.
The 1:34.622 beat Johann Zarco’s 2016 Circuit Ricardo Tormo lap record by over two tenths as Binder moved 0.6 clear of his competitors. Fernandez then shaved the advantage down slightly but the gap remained 0.5 to Binder. FP1 pacesetter Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Temporary Forward) then jumped up a couple of spots for P4 to continue his good day, with a late charge from Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) climbing to P4 at the death to displace Manzi.
2 minutes to go and @BradBinder_41 now has 6 tenths on the field! ????
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) November 15, 2019
And that is a new all-time lap record too! ????#ValenciaGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/S8Q7bSEJDB
Your top five at the end of Friday in the Moto2™ class stands as Binder, Fernandez, Di Giannantonio, Lowes and Manzi, with Fernandez jumping up to P2 from P18 in FP2. Jorge Navarro (MB Conveyors Speed Up) claimed P7, the Spaniard jumping up one spot from his P8 in FP1, with Mattia Pasini (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2), Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) completing the top 10.
FP3 begins at 10:55 local time (GMT+1), can anyone improve ahead of qualifying?
Top 10:
1. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – 1:34.622
2. Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP40) + 0.576
3. Fabio Di Giannantonio (MB Conveyors Speed Up) + 0.671
4. Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.706
5. Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Temporary Forward) + 0.730
6. Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) + 0.734
7. Jorge Navarro (MB Conveyors Speed Up) + 0.774
8. Mattia Pasini (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) + 0.787
9. Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 0.802
10. Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.911
Click here for the full results