Binder used the final Free Practice session of the weekend to set a devastating pace, unmatched by any of his rivals. Making just a single stop in the pits, he completed a total of 10 laps in the 1:42 range, out of 21 overall. A best lap of 1:42.624 placed second him second in the session. Rookie Bendsneyder made an important improvement with his last lap, clocking a 1:43.142 that placed him ninth. In qualifying Binder displayed his good form from the start, riding first for much of the session. After three stints and occupying second position, the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider made a late push to achieve the fastest time of the afternoon: 1:42.398. It was his personal best for the weekend, despite traffic that had the potential to ruin his lap. Bendsneyder had a difficult session, in which he could not match his time from FP3, and his 1:43.761 put him 21st.
64 BO BENDSNEYDER:
“This morning I was able to set a good time and was consistent. I ended up very happy with how FP3 went. In the afternoon, qualifying was difficult. I tried to set a good time in the middle of the session, but finally it wasn’t to be. Later on I went back out to find a fast lap in the final stint, but there were too many other riders on track. In the first sector I was held up a lot, but on the next three I set personal bests. We must be focused and think about finishing in the points tomorrow, something I see myself capable of doing because in FP3 I was very comfortable with the bike. I want to thank the team for all their effort and apologise for qualifying; this is not the position where we should be and tomorrow we will show everybody what we are capable of doing.”
Results Qualifying session:
source: motogp.com, ajo.fi
