KTM takes on Ducati as Binder tops Motegi practice

Brad Binder led Marc Marquez in the second and final MotoGP Friday practice session at Motegi, as KTM showed itself to be a credible threat to Ducati.

Key moments:

• KTM in strong form at favourable track
• Marquez just 0.003s off lead
• Miller and Morbidelli the surprise top 10 absentees

After mileage had been rain-limited in the first session, the first half of the hour-long afternoon run was headed by the usual suspects in Pecco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin - yet neither would top the timesheets at the end.

Martin had taken first place with a handful of minutes left on the clock, but didn't improve on his final run and was leapfrogged by both Binder's KTM and Marquez's year-old Ducati GP23.

KTM was always expected to go well at Motegi, its braking strengths and engine performance favoured by the track's stop-start layout, and Binder's session-topping pace was backed up by his future team-mate Pedro Acosta.

Acosta, riding a Gas Gas-badged KTM RC16 in his rookie season, placed fourth, 0.147s down on Binder and ahead of the likes of Enea Bastianini and Bagnaia.

Bastianini had a nasty crash early in the session but put everything together in the final minutes to avoid a needless Q1 appearance on Saturday morning.

😱 @Bestia23 hits the deck halfway through the session!

And he runs to the pits 🏃🏃🏃#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/I9Ighjtk89

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 4, 2024

He took fifth ahead of Maverick Vinales - the fastest Aprilia rider by a huge margin - and Bagnaia, who looked on course to challenge for the top spot late on but lost out in the final sector.

The year-old Ducatis of Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi completed the top 10 - meaning the only Ducati contesting Q2 tomorrow will be that of Martin's Pramac team-mate Franco Morbidelli on a 2024 bike.

Yellow Flags! @jackmilleraus crashes out at T4 💥

And @Bestia23 goes from 17th to 2nd! 🔄📈#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/4HpUW1ZBwn

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) October 4, 2024

KTM's Jack Miller was another surprising absence from the top 10, having looked close enough to the likes of Binder and Acosta but left despondent by a late crash that was eventually enough to narrowly relegate him out of the top 10.

There was also a heroic Q2 bid from home hero Takaaki Nakagami, the best of the Honda riders, who was just half a tenth off snatching 10th place in the end.

It was more than Yamaha showed, with Fabio Quartararo only 14th and Alex Rins adrift.

In addition to Bastianini and Miller, there were falls for Augusto Fernandez (Tech3 Gas Gas), Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Aprilia) and Johann Zarco (LCR Honda).