A 1:36.215 in Moto3™ FP1 hands Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) opening day honours at the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich, the South African holds a 0.105s advantage over Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) in second place. World Championship leader and Styrian GP winner Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completes the top three, the Spaniard 0.118s off Binder’s pace.

None of the riders in the top 14 spots improved their times in the afternoon before the rain started to fall with 10 minutes to go, with Binder taking P1 in both sessions. Last weekend’s polesitter Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) has had a solid start to the weekend in Austria, the Turkish star is fourth place on the combined times ahead of rookie Izan Guevara (Santander Consumer GASGAS).

Just 0.198s splits the leading quintet after two Free Practice sessions, with sixth fastest Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) just a couple of tenths shy of Binder. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), second in the title race Sergio Garcia (Santander Consumer GASGAS) are seventh and eighth respectively on Friday, with John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) 0.391s down on his teammate. Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) closes out the top 10, with 13th place Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) only 0.494s away from top spot.

FP3 – the potential automatic Q2 decider – gets underway at 09:00 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday morning. If the weather is dry, expect a barnstorming session in the lightweight class.

Top 10 combined:
 1. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) – 1:36.215
 2. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.105
 3. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.118
 4. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.184
 5. Izan Guevara (Santander Consumer GASGAS) + 0.198
 6. Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) + 0.201
 7. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.214
 8. Sergio Garcia (Santander Consumer GASGAS) + 0.320
 9. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.391
 10. Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.405