Brad Binder and Jorge Martin improved their times from FP1 to FP2 today at Silverstone Circuit.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 team had a positive opening day at the British GP, putting in some constructive work and bettering on their morning lap times in the afternoon session. Brad Binder finished the day ninth overall, giving him a provisional Q2 spot. On the other side of the box, Jorge Martin was 17th fastest on the combined Friday timesheets.

In the morning, Brad Binder immediately demonstrated his good form and, in the first part of the session, he moved to the top of classification, leading the way ahead of his rivals. Thanks to his personal best of 2:06.380 the South African rider eventually finished FP1 in 10th, after completing a total of 15 laps. For his part, Jorge Martin had a tough session, suffering with tonsillitis. However, the Spaniard was able to gradually improve his times, finally concluding 24th – 2:07.267.

In the afternoon, Binder managed to improve on his morning personal best by over half a second. The South African finished in the provisional Q2 positions, being ninth at the end of FP2, with a best time of 2:05.658, set on the last of his 14 laps. Meanwhile, Jorge Martin took a big step forward with respect to FP1, lowering by more than a second. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 rider ended the session in 17th place – 2:05.971 -, less than two tenths off the direct access to Q2.

Tomorrow, Red Bull KTM Ajo riders will enjoy one last free practice before qualifying, which will take place at 3:10 pm (Q1) and 3:35 pm (Q2), local time.

Combined practice times (FP1 – FP2)
1. Jorge Navarro (Speed Up) 2:04.993
2. Remy Gardner (Kalex) 2:05.122 +0.129
3. Augusto Fernandez (Kalex) 2:05.282 +0.289
4. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex) 2:05.307 +0.314
5. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 2:05.321 +0.328
9. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:05.658 +0.665
17. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 2:05.971 +0.978

41 BRAD BINDER

“It’s been a very hard day for us. In FP2 I felt a bit better compared with the morning practice. However, we are still way off where we should be. There’s a lot of work to be done and we have to find the way forward at this Grand Prix. Right now we need to look at what our situation is after the first two free sessions and prepare well for the race.”

88 JORGE MARTIN

“It was a tough day for me. I’ve been sick for a few days and today I couldn’t ride at 100%. Even so, I’m trying to do my best to get the bike ready. We still have a lot of work to do, but we are not so far behind the fastest riders. I’m only four tenths off the Top 7, so tomorrow we need to keep fighting. I hope we can take another step forward in FP3 and can get into Q2, in order to achieve a good qualifying result.”