Moto3: Binder bides his time in the rain

Moto3 world champion Brad Binder has bided his time to top the opening day of action at the Malaysian Grand Prix, timing his move in wet conditions to perfection to end the day nearly a second clear of wet weather specialist and home favourite Khairul Idham Pawi.

The South African sat out most of the morning’s damp first practice, only venturing out on track with three quarters of the session gone – but was able to make the most of his time and a drying track to set the fastest time of the day ahead of Pawi and Francesco Bagnaia.

But with heavy rain for the day’s second session, Bagnaia was able to make the most of the rain to top the session, with Jorge Navarro second and Pawi third – and Binder not too disappointed to be a distant 19^th.

“This first day in Malaysia went pretty well. This morning we could not do many laps, because we waited until the track was more or less dry to get out there and push. The feeling in the dry was good, but in the wet in the afternoon it was not very good and we had to test setups.

“The good news is we know how to fix things for tomorrow in order to be faster and get a better feeling in the wet. In the dry we are very strong and we just have to continue on.”