2024 MotoGP World Championship
Round 16 – Motegi – Friday
Motul Grand Prix of Japan
MotoGP Friday Quotes
Brad Binder – P1
“The last few races have been a challenge for sure, so we came here with a little bit of a different idea, just ride the bike and not to try and reinvent the thing. Today was pretty good, can’t complain. Was a bit tricky in the PR session at the beginning, I started we had a small issue I came in then went out again and after that had no grip and I was not sure what was going on, after that we changed the tyre for the time attack and my bike was back.”
Marc Marquez – P2
“I took a few risks on the final lap. We changed the bike quite a lot today as I wasn’t feeling comfortable, but we did well in the last two runs. We had a few too many issues, one with the brake… We still need to figure out how to be effective with fresh tyres. Race-wise, we’re still working on which is be the tyre to go with.”
Jorge Martin – P3
“Was a strange day, after the morning with the slicks and the rain, then the afternoon was more complicated than expect, I was struggling with the front feeling, and also the rear, we have to work quite hard, maybe not for tomorrow due to the rain, but for Sunday.”
Pedro Acosta – P4
“We are feeling super good, and we were able to get on the pace quite fast this afternoon, despite not much track time this morning. In Practice, we were competitive with soft used tyres, not far from the top guys. We are getting closer and closer to them, so it is a positive point for us. Saying how tomorrow will go is difficult, because the conditions are looking quite uncertain, so let’s evaluate the situation in the morning, and then we will have important decisions to make for the Sprint.”
Enea Bastianini – P5
“It was a quite complicated day. I struggled a bit at the beginning: I couldn’t get up to speed in the morning and then the afternoon things seemed to be going the same way. We made a set up change that was helping, but then I crashed as my foot got stuck while shifting to second gear, ending up in fourth gear and losing the front-end. Following the crash, I turned my attention to the time attack. I used the first tyre to get the right feeling and then I pushed in the final minutes, setting a strong lap-time. It was important to be in Q2, but my pace right now is not among the best.”
Maverick Vinales – P6
“We are rather satisfied with the day. I managed to get the best from the RS-GP24. I am pleased with how I’m riding; I’m able to take the bike to the maximum level in any circumstance and that makes me happy and motivates me for the coming days. I think we’ll be able to take another leap forward in qualifying.”
Francesco Bagnaia – P7
“It was a very positive day. We got off to a good start and I felt much better with the bike straight away. This is a track that suits my riding style well; we did an excellent job and we improved throughout the day especially in sector three, where I had always struggled a little. Too bad for ending up wide at turn 11 during the final quick-lap attempt. It was key to find a good pace and to finish in the top ten, so I’m happy. We’ll need to make another step forward tomorrow, but we’re in the right direction.”
Alex Marquez – P8
“I’m happy to be back in Q2, even though we’re still missing something set-up wise. We need a little bit more of track time in dry conditions. We need to improve our pace and should it rain, we’ll have to take advantage of the opportunity.”
Fabio Di Giannantonio – P9
“A positive day in the end, we got into Q2 and I’m happy. We didn’t start very well this morning, for the first time I tried to go out on the track without taking painkillers, I’m not ready yet, some of my back muscles hurt a lot. I suffered, but in the afternoon session we made a good step forward, maybe I could have done a little bit more in terms of lap time, but I was a bit unlucky in the end. I’m sure I can make a step forward tomorrow for the Sprint.”
Marco Bezzecchi – P10
“From the start, also considering the rain, I had a great feeling. I’m happy even if we have struggled a bit with the time attack. I got into Q2 by a breath, but we knew it because there’s more grip here than in Mandalika and these conditions are complicated for us. In any case, we’ll continue to work and understand the weather for tomorrow.”
Jack Miller – P11
“Not the day we wanted, felt good from the get go but when I was pushing for lap times was struggling with the chatter vibration. Trying to find a solution, but will be going the long way around tomorrow.”
Takaaki Nakagami – P12
“It’s been a nice day! I’m happy but a bit disappointed because we almost did it. In any case, it’s been a cool Friday: I’ve been close to the top 10, enjoyed that fast lap, and got a positive feeling on the bike. I know this layout well and felt I could push. Let’s try to take a step tomorrow and enjoy the Sprint!”
Fabio Quartararo – P14
“We struggled today. It seems that the track affects the performance of our bike. If the grip at the track is good, we are not so bad, but if the track has low grip, we are far from the pole position times. We are lacking rear grip, and this makes it difficult.”
Aleix Espargaro – P15
“With low grip, the sensations braking are not good. We wanted to try a different set-up, but we were unable to do so because of the weather conditions. I have a good feeling on the bike, but I did not ride very well. I made a lot of mistakes. Even in my flying lap that would have placed me in the top ten, I made a mistake on the final sector. It was a complicated day.”
Joan Mir – P16
“Not a bad day, we’re able to see some improvements over the course of the day so we should be happy about that. During the whole day I was able to challenge the top 12 and be in the mix for Q2 which is a positive and shows we are going the right way. In the time attack I wasn’t quite able to put together my perfect lap and we have a couple of tenths if we look at all the best sectors I did. We are still working on improving the vibrations we’ve had for the past few rounds. Tomorrow, we look to make another step.”
Johann Zarco – P17
“This is a hard track for us; the lack of acceleration makes us struggle. Everyone is very close, and we are working on improving under different conditions. We’ve confirmed the positive feeling on the front, but we need to adjust some things to do a good job tomorrow”.
Raul Fernandez – P18
“Today was really difficult and we need to understand why, on almost all Fridays, we are struggling a lot and not competitive enough. I cannot do a proper time attack on a Friday afternoon – we work hard and after that we usually find solutions that enable me to fight for Q2 on Saturday. It is something that we have to improve, as it’s not easy when we are always late to fight for some good positions. We need to improve that for the future – to be ready from Friday morning onwards, which will create an easier weekend for us. Today was quite complicated again and now we saw some different things to improve for tomorrow, but we need to find that earlier. Friday is a really important day as there are less opportunities on Saturday but, hopefully, we find the right solutions for tomorrow and have a chance to go to Q2.”
Augusto Fernandez – P19
“We are struggling with the bike, and it is a huge problem here, because of the hard-braking. Missing most of the morning session because of the weather was not really helpful as we did not have a lot of time to work on the set up, so the feeling was not there at all this afternoon. We are going to work hard tonight, to try improving the bike and my feeling tomorrow. We have a realistic target to be in the top 15 in qualifying, so let’s work towards that goal.”
Alex Rins – P20
“It was so hard to manage the situation today. I was trying to give my 100%, but something is not working. Fabio and I are having similar problems. We lack traction and edge grip. This track’s main characteristic is hard braking, but we are having more problems than we expected with the hard front. So, we need to check why.”
Luca Marini – P21
“A tricky day for me, it’s a feeling I haven’t had before. I had a lot less rear grip than normal and the vibration I am experiencing a lot more than ever before. The last two races we have been able to solve it so we need to understand how the situation is different here. I think we can improve because Taka made a great lap today, so there’s potential to do more here. Now we work to improve more for the weekend.”
Lorenzo Savadori – P22
“I didn’t try a lot today, honestly. This morning, I did only 6 laps because the weather kept changing and in the afternoon, we had some small issues and I stayed in the garage for 25 minutes. But this is normal because we were trying something and lost a bit of time with that. In the end, it turned out quite good – my feeling on the bike is quite different compared to my test bike so, we need to understand where the differences are and I need to understand everything better. In general, it was a positive day, this track is nice and obviously completely different to when I was here last time in 2010 on the 125cc machine. I need to do more laps but I’m very happy to work with the Trackhouse MotoGP Team.”
Remy Gardner – P23
“It was a tough day. The bad weather in FP1 didn’t help. At least we had some stable conditions this afternoon. I could have used that lost bit of time in FP1 to get used to the bike and the tyres again and get up to speed. But, overall, the day was not too bad. The most important thing is that we are trying the new items and are collecting useful data which Yamaha can use as a direction for the 2025 bike.”
Team Managers
Paolo Bonora – Aprilia Racing
“Good result for Maverick, straight through to Q2 to confirm his good confidence on the bike as early as the first session in the morning. Aleix, on the other hand, struggled more and we’ll need to work on the settings to improve his feeling on the bike. I also wish to thank Romano Albesiano for all the years of collaboration together and welcome aboard to Fabiano Sterlacchini as the next Aprilia Racing Technical Director.”
Massimo Meregalli – Monster Yamaha Team Director
“Motegi is a particular track, and it doesn’t play to our strengths. A lack of grip seems to be a big problem as well. It prohibits Fabio and Álex from pushing to the fullest as it affects braking, cornering, and lean angle. It’s disappointing after having been inside the Practice top 10 in Misano and Mandalika, but somehow, knowing the characteristics of this circuit, we already expected that this GP would be difficult. That said, we will continue to search for improvements throughout this weekend. We will analyse the data carefully to find a solution that we can try tomorrow.”
Wilco Zeelenberg – Trackhouse Team Manager
“Clearly second practice was a bit of a mess as we had some technical problems with Raul’s bike which we fixed but he lost around 30 minutes. Anyway, the first time attack on fresh tires was good and then, in his second outing there was a lot of traffic and he could not get everything together from what I saw and so, for tomorrow, we need more as it will be very tight. Hopefully, we are able to make Q2 but, it will be difficult. Lorenzo Savadori did a good job today. Of course, this morning, only 6 laps in first free practice with the light rain coming and going and then, in the Practice session, he was improving every time he went out so, chapeau for that. He struggles as it is not his bike and he also needs to adapt to the track as he was last here 14 years ago and now he is on a MotoGP bike and not a 125cc machine so the differences are huge but, I have to say that a two-and-a-half second gap behind the fastest guy in MotoGP, at the moment, is a good lap time. Now, he needs to work on his pace because time attack and race pace are two different stories.”
MotoGP Practice
Brad Binder’s (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) brilliant 1:43.436 gave the South African opening day honours at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan as an incredibly competitive Friday afternoon Practice session played out at a dry Mobility Resort Motegi.
Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) claimed P2, 0.033s away from the blistering Binder, with World Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) a further 0.099s shy in P3 as Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) settles for P7.
We’re normally used to seeing the first 30 minutes – or more – of Practice get off to a steady start, but that wasn’t the case in Japan as the threat of wet weather meant soft rear Michelin rubber was slotted in at the beginning of the session. Bagnaia and Martin were straight up to P1 and P2, with Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio sitting in an early P3 and P4.
Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) was soon inside the top three on his first visit to Motegi on a premier class thoroughbred, before the session – lap time-wise – settled down following the opening 15-minute flourish.
A while later, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) was then P3 after a couple of solid efforts were hammered home by Top Gun before we saw Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) crash at Turn 13 with just over 30 minutes to go. ‘The Beast’ was all OK and jogged back to the box, but it was a fast one – the front end washed away without warning, and the Italian’s GP24 took some heavy blows in the gravel.
With 15 minutes to go, things started to ramp up again. Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse Racing MotoGP) jumped up to P5, and soon after, Aprilia stablemate Viñales went P2 – 0.012s away from Bagnaia. Immediately the Spaniard was demoted to P3 though as Binder set a 1:43.879 to go top of the time-sheets, with teammate Jack Miller now P4. The KTMs were prowling.
On his next lap, Viñales improved again to move back into P2, but it was soon P3 once more as Acosta climbed to P2 to make it a Pierer Mobility Group 1-2 with 10 minutes to go. The rookie sensation then pinched P1 off Binder after delivering a 1:43.754, as both Bagnaia and Martin failed to beat Acosta and Binder on their first time attack efforts.
Pecco then slammed home a 1:43.754 to set the exact same time as Acosta, but Martin went 0.186s faster than his title rival and the #31 to act as the new session leader with five minutes left to play. Attention then turned to Bastianini and after his crash earlier in the session, ‘The Beast’ clawed his way back into the top 10 to go P2, 0.037s down on Martin.
The lead changed again though! Binder went top, 0.132s clear of Martin, as home hero Takaaki Nakagmi (IDEMITSU Honda LCR) clinched a provisional P9 – top job from the Japanese star. There were still plenty of changes coming though. Marc Marquez went 0.033s slower than Binder to place P2 as improvements for Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) and Di Giannantonio pushed the impressive Nakagami out of the top 10 moments before the chequered flag waved.
Acosta improved late to finish P4 and under a tenth and a half away from Binder, with Bastianini rounding out the top five – a good recovery from the #23. Viñales was P6, Bagnaia slipped to P7, but less than four-tenths covers the front seven in a very competitive Friday. Alex Marquez, Di Giannantonio and Bezzecchi were the final top 10 finishers as a late crash at Turn 3 for Miller saw the Australian miss out in P11 by 0.030s. Nakagami also missed the cut by such a fine margin, only 0.049s off an automatic Q2 place.
MotoGP Practice Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
1 | B Binder | KTM | 1m43.436 | 313.9 |
2 | M Marquez | Duc | +0.033 | 308.5 |
3 | J Martin | Duc | +0.132 | 311.2 |
4 | P Acosta | KTM | +0.147 | 314.8 |
5 | E Bastianini | Duc | +0.169 | 312.1 |
6 | M Viñales | Apr | +0.284 | 311.2 |
7 | F Bagnaia | Duc | +0.318 | 315.7 |
8 | A Marquez | Duc | +0.597 | 312.1 |
9 | F Di Giannantonio | Duc | +0.646 | 310.3 |
10 | M Bezzecchi | Duc | +0.773 | 311.2 |
11 | J Miller | KTM | +0.803 | 310.3 |
12 | T Nakagami | Hon | +0.822 | 308.5 |
13 | F Morbidelli | Duc | +0.890 | 310.3 |
14 | F Quartararo | Yam | +0.965 | 306.8 |
15 | A Espargaro | Apr | +1.034 | 313.0 |
16 | J Mir | Hon | +1.234 | 309.4 |
17 | J Zarco | Hon | +1.249 | 311.2 |
18 | R Fernandez | Apr | +1.258 | 312.1 |
19 | A Fernandez | KTM | +1.433 | 310.3 |
20 | A Rins | Yam | +1.514 | 309.4 |
21 | L Marini | Hon | +1.682 | 308.5 |
22 | L Savadori | Apr | +2.427 | 308.5 |
23 | R Gardner | Yam | +3.280 | 307.6 |
MotoGP Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | Martin | 366 |
2 | Bagnaia | 345 |
3 | Bastianini | 291 |
4 | Marquez | 288 |
5 | Acosta | 181 |
6 | Binder | 173 |
7 | Viñales | 162 |
8 | Espargaro | 127 |
9 | Bezzecchi | 125 |
10 | Di Giannantonio | 122 |
11 | Marquez | 121 |
12 | Morbidelli | 120 |
13 | Quartararo | 82 |
14 | Oliveira | 71 |
15 | Miller | 58 |
16 | Fernandez | 55 |
17 | Zarco | 31 |
18 | Nakagami | 26 |
19 | Mir | 20 |
20 | Fernandez | 20 |
21 | Rins | 19 |
22 | Espargaro | 12 |
23 | Pedrosa | 7 |
24 | Marini | 5 |
Moto2
On a mixed conditions Friday at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, Filip Salač (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) topped both FP and Practice 1 to head into Saturday as the rider to beat in the Moto2 class. The Czech rider’s new lap record, a 1:49.716, was 0.046s quicker than second place Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) as the Indonesian GP winner enjoys a fruitful Friday in Motegi. Third place went the way of Marcos Ramirez, the OnlyFans American Racing Team rider was also less than a tenth shy of top spot.
Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) was up the sharp end throughout the day on home turf as the World Championship leader goes into qualifying day fourth on the time-sheets.
Izan Guevara (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team) completed the top five, 0.356s away from the summit, as rookie Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) also produced some good-looking pace in the afternoon stint to finish P6.
Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp), Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team), Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) and Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) were inside the top 10 as the quartet aim to try and keep themselves in with an outside shot at the title in Japan, while Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) finished outside the top 14 in P17.
Senna Agius starts the Motegi weekend just outside the top 20.
Moto2 Practice One Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
1 | F Salac | Kal | 1m49.716 | 258.9 |
2 | A Canet | Kal | +0.046 | 257.1 |
3 | M Ramirez | Kal | +0.095 | 257.1 |
4 | A Ogura | Bos | +0.299 | 258.3 |
5 | I Guevara | Kal | +0.356 | 258.3 |
6 | D Öncü | Kal | +0.383 | 259.6 |
7 | F Aldeguer | Bos | +0.398 | 259.6 |
8 | J Dixon | Kal | +0.428 | 256.5 |
9 | J Roberts | Kal | +0.441 | 255.3 |
10 | T Arbolino | Kal | +0.495 | 258.3 |
11 | D Moreira | Kal | +0.524 | 257.7 |
12 | C Vietti | Kal | +0.530 | 260.2 |
13 | A Lopez | Bos | +0.553 | 258.3 |
14 | A Arenas | Kal | +0.605 | 259.6 |
15 | Z Goorbergh | Kal | +0.696 | 256.5 |
16 | M Gonzalez | Kal | +0.788 | 257.1 |
17 | S Garcia | Bos | +0.791 | 256.5 |
18 | B Baltus | Kal | +0.798 | 255.9 |
19 | D Foggia | Kal | +0.826 | 258.9 |
20 | D Binder | Kal | +0.933 | 258.3 |
21 | S Agius | Kal | +1.158 | 255.3 |
22 | J Masia | Kal | +1.192 | 255.9 |
23 | A Sasaki | Kal | +1.218 | 261.5 |
24 | J Alcoba | Kal | +1.218 | 257.1 |
25 | D Muñoz | Kal | +1.445 | 255.9 |
26 | M Aji | Kal | +1.496 | 254.7 |
27 | X Artigas | For | +1.759 | 257.7 |
28 | A Escrig | For | +2.034 | 255.9 |
29 | X Cardelus | Kal | +2.207 | 257.1 |
Moto2 Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | A Ogura | 208 |
2 | S Garcia | 166 |
3 | A Canet | 156 |
4 | A Lopez | 156 |
5 | J Roberts | 153 |
6 | F Aldeguer | 146 |
7 | J Dixon | 130 |
8 | C Vietti | 130 |
9 | M Gonzalez | 127 |
10 | T Arbolino | 121 |
11 | S Chantra | 78 |
12 | M Ramirez | 78 |
13 | A Arenas | 64 |
14 | J Alcoba | 60 |
15 | D Binder | 49 |
16 | S Agius | 47 |
17 | F Salac | 40 |
18 | I Guevara | 37 |
19 | D Öncü | 33 |
20 | B Baltus | 30 |
21 | D Moreira | 28 |
22 | Z Goorbergh | 20 |
23 | D Foggia | 18 |
24 | B Bendsneyder | 7 |
25 | J Navarro | 6 |
26 | A Sasaki | 4 |
27 | J Masia | 4 |
28 | M Aji | 3 |
29 | M Ferrari | 1 |
30 | X Cardelus | 0 |
31 | M Schrotter | 0 |
32 | M Pasini | 0 |
33 | A Escrig | 0 |
34 | D Muñoz | 0 |
35 | X Artigas | 0 |
36 | U Orradre | 0 |
Moto3
Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) ended a tricky opening day of action as the quickest rider in Moto3, with a tenth and a half splitting the leading trio as Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) and title-hunting David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) enjoy their opening day’s work in Japan having pocketed P2 and P3.
Two home stars were able to bag opening day top five results as Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) and Tatsuki Suzuki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) head into Saturday’s action in P4 and P5.
The only other two riders who can stop Alonso from winning the title this weekend, Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3), were P9 and P13 and have work to do to close the gap ahead of qualifying.
Joel Kelso had been second quickest in the rain-affected opening session before slipping to to sixth in afternoon practice but was happy with his start to the round.
Countryman Jacob Roulstone was excited for a new week and new opportunities after an average Indonesian Grand Prix campaign. The rookie appeared to enjoy the wet conditions of the morning’s Free Practice, and the best of his fifteen laps was a 2’05.104. Later in the afternoon, track conditions were a bit better leaving room for riders to get a better feeling. Jacob improved to 1’57.815, but the feeling overall was not positive for the Australian, who will need to find solutions tonight if he wants to qualify well.
Jacob Roulstone – P23
“Mixed conditions for our first day in Motegi. In the wet this morning, we felt really good, but then later on in the dry, we werent’ feeling as good. We tried to change with the soft tyres, but that was no good, I struggled to turn the bike, which is frustrating. We have to work on the bike, and I need to work on my riding too, but we are working on it. Hopefully the conditions are a bit better tomorrow, and we will try to improve.”
Moto3 Practice One Times
Pos | Rider | Bike | Time/Gap | Speed |
1 | I Ortola | KTM | 1m55.550 | 217.7 |
2 | A Piqueras | Hon | +0.157 | 218.6 |
3 | D Alonso | CFM | +0.167 | 219.5 |
4 | R Yamanaka | KTM | +0.253 | 219.5 |
5 | T Suzuki | Hus | +0.315 | 220.4 |
6 | J Kelso | KTM | +0.386 | 216.4 |
7 | D Almansa | Hon | +0.465 | 219.0 |
8 | A Fernandez | Hon | +0.542 | 215.5 |
9 | C Veijer | Hus | +0.592 | 217.7 |
10 | M Bertelle | Hon | +0.631 | 216.0 |
11 | J Rueda | KTM | +0.652 | 217.7 |
12 | F Farioli | Hon | +0.895 | 214.2 |
13 | D Holgado | Gas | +0.943 | 217.7 |
14 | L Lunetta | Hon | +1.037 | 217.7 |
15 | D Muñoz | KTM | +1.056 | 218.1 |
16 | S Nepa | KTM | +1.124 | 217.3 |
17 | T Furusato | Hon | +1.129 | 217.7 |
18 | N Carraro | KTM | +1.293 | 217.7 |
19 | S Ogden | Hon | +1.861 | 216.8 |
20 | J Esteban | CFM | +1.943 | 215.5 |
21 | X Zurutuza | KTM | +2.130 | 216.0 |
22 | T Buasri | Hon | +2.174 | 217.7 |
23 | J Roulstone | Gas | +2.265 | 216.4 |
24 | R Rossi | KTM | +2.906 | 215.5 |
25 | N Dettwiler | KTM | +3.234 | 216.0 |
26 | R Wakamatsu | Hon | +4.663 | 213.0 |
Moto3 Championship Standings
Pos | Rider | Points |
1 | D Alonso | 296 |
2 | D Holgado | 199 |
3 | I Ortola | 191 |
4 | C Veijer | 189 |
5 | D Muñoz | 133 |
6 | A Piqueras | 131 |
7 | A Fernandez | 121 |
8 | A Rueda | 110 |
9 | J Kelso | 110 |
10 | R Yamanaka | 86 |
11 | T Furusato | 81 |
12 | L Lunetta | 78 |
13 | T Suzuki | 72 |
14 | S Nepa | 59 |
15 | J Roulstone | 50 |
16 | J Esteban | 44 |
17 | M Bertelle | 42 |
18 | R Rossi | 24 |
19 | F Farioli | 24 |
20 | N Carraro | 22 |
21 | S Ogden | 15 |
22 | X Zurutuza | 11 |
23 | D Almansa | 7 |
24 | V Perez | 3 |
25 | N Dettwiler | 2 |
26 | J Whatley | 0 |
27 | T Buasri | 0 |
28 | J Rosenthaler | 0 |
29 | D Shahril | 0 |
30 | H Al | 0 |
31 | A Aditama | 0 |