SA's Brad Binder lit up the time sheets on his MotoGP debut, finishing third quickest in the second practice session held at Spain's Jerez circuit on Friday afternoon.
Riding a factory Red Bull KTM, Binder's 1.38.250 lap was just over one-tenth of a second off the pace of Petronas Yamaha's Franco Morbidelli, who set the session's quickest time of 1.38.125. Second fastest was Petronas Yamaha's Fabio Quartararo on 1.38.152.
Binder finished ahead of reigning multiple world champion Marc Marquez, who set the fourth quickest time but crashed his Repsol Honda during the session.
Motorcycle legend Valentino Rossi was in 20th place on his factory Yamaha on 1.39.222, but the top 20 riders were separated by just over one second in the closely knit field.
This Sunday's Jerez race is the first round of the 2020 MotoGP championship in a season delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic. Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 2.10pm.
Binder makes his debut this season in the top-tier MotoGP class after winning the Moto3 title in 2016 and finishing runner-up in the 2019 Moto2 championship.
