Brad Binder and Jorge Martin make consistent improvement today at the Circuit of The Americas.

The third round of the Moto2 World Championship got underway today at the Circuit of The Americas. Brad Binder and Jorge Martin were looking for fast times due to the forecast of rain on Saturday -with both lowering their lap times from FP1 to FP2.

The low grip levels offered by the American track in Free Practice 1 hindered the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders’ work at the start of the Red Bull Grand Prix of The Americas weekend. Brad Binder focused on continuing to set up his KTM, improving his times lap-by-lap before stopping the clock at 2:12.019 on his last attempt. His teammate, Jorge Martin, had his first experience of the Texan track with a Moto2 bike. The reigning Moto3 World Champion set a fastest time of 2:13.755 on his 11th lap of 15.

In Free Practice 2, Brad Binder quickly upped his pace, temporarily going top of the timesheets. After completing a total of 13 laps, the South African eventually placed 15th with a 2:11.643. Jorge Martin took further steps forward with his adaptation to the Moto2; the Spaniard finished the day in 20th position, with a time of 2:12.016.

Tomorrow, Binder and Martin will have one last Free Practice before the qualifying sessions for the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, which will begin at 3:05pm local time (Q1) and 3:30pm (Q2).

Results (Combined practice times FP1 – FP2)
1. Marcel Schrotter (Kalex) 2:09.982
2. Thomas Luthi (Kalex) 2:10.490 +0.508
3. Alex Marquez (Kalex) 2:10.580 +0.598
4. Luca Marini (Kalex) 2:10.584 +0.602
5. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 2:10.646 +0.664
15. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:11.643 +1.661
20. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:12.016 +2.034

41 BRAD BINDER

“It was a tough first day at the Circuit of the Americas. The second session went quite well, I felt good and, although the pace was not very fast, I was able to be consistent lap after lap. However, when we put on new tyres we had a problem with the rear, which forced me to go back to the garage. After that I tried to push but I couldn’t improve my lap times. At the moment we are not in Q2, but we will do everything possible to be able to make the cut tomorrow.”

88 JORGE MARTIN

“It was a difficult day for us, I knew that I was going to find this track a bit more tough with the Moto2 bike. I had some issues in FP1, mainly due to the lack of grip. In the afternoon we managed to improve, but there is still work to do if we want to be up with the frontrunners. We will try our best to continue taking steps forward. I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow, so that we have enough time to work.”