South Africa’s Brad Binder surprisingly set the pace on his KTM during the first practice session Friday at the season-opening Qatar MotoGP.

Reigning champion Fabio Quartararo could only manage 11th while last year’s runner-up Francesco Bagnaia was 18th after crashing on the Losail circuit.

Binder was marginally quicker than Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami with Suzuki rider Alex Rins third.

Factory Honda duo Pol Espargaro and six-time world champion Marc Marquez, whose past two seasons have been derailed by injuries, rounded out the top five. 

 

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