Brad Binder was fastest on the combined FP1 and FP2 timesheets, with Jorge Martin tenth on Friday at the Dutch Grand Prix.

The Dutch Grand Prix began in a positive fashion for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team on Friday, with both riders fighting throughout the sessions for the top positions. Brad Binder improved on his time from the morning by a second in the FP2, which saw him finish the day as Friday’s fastest rider, whilst Jorge Martin also took a big step forward and concluded the day tenth.

The South African was strong and competitive throughout FP1, riding in the top 5 for most of the session. Ultimately, Brad Binder finished 8th – 1:38.328 – in a very tight practice, with 24 riders lapping within less than a second off each other. On the other side of the box, Jorge Martin didn’t have an easy start to his day. However, the Spaniard managed the situation and, on his penultimate lap, he reduced his personal best to 1:38.809 and concluded 16th, 0.6s off the fastest time.

In the afternoon, the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders both made big strides, each lapping in the top five in the early part of FP2, improving on their own benchmarks from the morning. Thanks to a perfect final lap, Brad Binder grabbed the first spot of the practice and of the opening day overall – with 1:37.398. His teammate, Jorge Martin had a solid session, completing 17 laps and notching the 10th fastest time – 1:37.872.

Given today’s results, both Brad Binder and Jorge Martin are provisionally placed among the riders qualified for Q2, with FP3 still to come tomorrow. The Moto2 Q1 session will start at 3:05 pm on Saturday, followed by Q2 at 3:30 pm.

Combined practice times (FP1 – FP2)

1. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:37.398
2. Remy Gardner (Kalex) 1:37.530 +0.132
3. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:37.592 +0.194
4. Marcel Schrotter (Kalex) 1:37.685 +0.287
5. Jorge Navarro (Speed Up) 1:37.687 +0.289
10. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:37.872 +0.474

41 BRAD BINDER

“We’re happy with the result we got today. In the morning it was a bit harder, as we had some chatter problems, but when we changed the tyres the feeling improved a lot. The positive point is that we were fast; however there is still a lot of work to be done and we need to fine tune the setup. Tonight we’re going to review everything we did throughout the day and come up with a good strategy for tomorrow, in order to stay in Q2, so that we can qualify in a good position on the grid. Of course, this is the best start to a weekend so far, compared with previous races.”

88 JORGE MARTIN

“In general, it was a very positive day. This morning we weren’t able to do as many laps as we’d have liked and that stopped us from going faster, but I was very comfortable during the session. In the afternoon, the sensations were even better. At the beginning we had some small issues, but we made some modifications that worked well. I think we’re on the right track. I have a good rhythm and that’s really crucial. Tomorrow we’ll try to keep our place in Q2 and work on our pace for the race, which we think will be in hot conditions – and this will make things very hard. Anyway, I think we can be quick at this track.”