---
title: "Bulega leads opening Moto3 practice at Motegi"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/10/14/bulega-leads-opening-moto3-practice-motegi/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "Moto3"
published: "2016-10-14T01:02:25Z"
modified: "2016-10-14T01:03:10Z"
---

# Bulega leads opening Moto3 practice at Motegi

Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Nicolo Bulega ended his first encounter with the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in fine fashion, after he topped the first free practice session ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.

The Italian has proven on numerous occasions this season that he is a very quick learner, and it didn’t take him long to get to grips with the hugely difficult Motegi circuit. Bulega began ascending up the timing screens in the closing minutes of the session, eventually clocking a best lap of 1m57.523s to go just over a tenth of a second clear of the field.

Brad Binder began his first race weekend as World Champion in rather spectacular style. The South African topped the time sheets early on in the 40-minute session, but a crash at Turn 3 in the final eight minutes halted his charge and he finished the morning second fastest.

Aragon race-winner Jorge Navarro completed the top three on his Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda, with Leopard’s Fabio Quartararo a tenth adrift in fourth. Livio Loi rounded out the top five on his RW Racing machine.

Andrea Migno capped off a strong morning for the Valentino Rossi-backed Sky Racing team, the Italian taking the chequered flag in sixth spot. Enea Bastianini, Gabriel Rodrigo, Bo Bendsneyder and Joan Mir completed the top 10.

> Twitter: A heavy fall for @88jorgemartin this session, who’s been stretchered off. Update as and when.
>
> \#JapaneseGP https://t.co/u9moQo0Cgt (@MotoGP)

Bendsneyder ended his session prematurely with a fast crash at Turn 1, as did Mir just moments early. John McPhee, Jules Danilo and Jorge Martin also suffered falls, with the latter of those three having to be helped off track after his left foot took a fairly big knock.

![2016-10-14](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/10/2016-10-14.png)