Adverse weather conditions allow Red Bull KTM Ajo rider to complete just 7 dry laps, finishing the first day of the Malaysian GP in fifteenth place.

The typical intermittent rain provided by Malaysia affected proceedings at the beginning of the penultimate round of the season. The Moto3 riders were the hardest hit by the conditions, enjoying only half a Free Practice session in the dry. This brief period was used by Darryn Binder to make progress with the setup of his KTM, placing fifteenth at the end of the day.

The Moto3 riders completed their first laps at Sepang in wet conditions, due to overnight rain that kept the track damp and required wet tyres throughout the 40 minute session. Binder gradually lowered his lap times throughout the 14 laps he put in, to finish in twelfth position -2:27.203.

In the afternoon there was a small window of dry track time, as the Moto3 field was presented with little more than a quarter of an hour to ride with slicks. The South African took advantage of this to ride 7 laps and lower his time to 2:15.002, finally placing fifteenth. The rain returned at the midway point of the session, making it impossible to continue improving his lap times.

Tomorrow the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider will take on qualifying at 12:35pm local time. Binder took the first front row of his career one week ago in Australia.

Results (Combined practice times FP1-FP2)
1. Tony Arbolino (Honda) 2:14.227
2. John McPhee (KTM) 2:14.237 +0.010
3. Aron Canet (Honda) 2:14.247 +0.020
4. Jorge Martin (Honda) 2:14.251 +0.024
5. Niccolo Antonelli (Honda) 2:14.349 +0.122
15. Darryn Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:15.002 +0.775

40 DARRYN BINDER
“Overall, the day went well -although there was some bad weather. The first Free Practice was wet and we started with wet tyres, but little by little the track dried out a lot on the inside line and it was not nice to ride, because the tyre wore down a lot. Unfortunately in FP2 I could only do seven laps with the dry compound, but at least we were able to have a first experience of a dry track. I finished 15th but was just 0.7 from the top, so I’m happy. Hopefully tomorrow we have a full dry session.”