Brad Binder: I spent a lot of time on the back of scooters today

Friday at Le Mans was a ‘character building’ day for Brad Binder, who fell three times on his way to 17th place, sending him into Saturday’s Qualifying 1 for the French MotoGP.

After low-siding at Turn 11 in the morning on his way to eighth, the factory KTM star was caught out twice at Turn 13 in the afternoon.

“I spent a lot of time on the back of scooters today,” Binder joked.

“Every time I went to push, I fell off. So a little bit of a mess to be honest.

“I was feeling really good and was quite fast every time I completed laps.

“We just need to adjust a bit a couple of things because I had the exact same crash three times.

“But we understand why, so that's good.”

"I was entering the second last corner later than all my team-mates, so that probably doesn't help," he revealed.

“So I'm hoping that's the reason.”

Team-mate Jack Miller secured his place in Qualifying 2 with a competitive sixth place, just 0.3s from Pramac Ducati’s Friday leader Jorge Martin.

“Solid Friday,” said Miller. “Anytime you can get that direct Q2 pass is always nice. Especially in a tight technical circuit like this where yellow flags and little mistakes can make or break your Friday.

“I've been very happy from the get go here. The bike’s working well. Probably the most stable bike I've had into turn 1 here at really high speed.

“I feel like I'm able to carry the momentum around the track, which is nice.

“So if we can tidy up a few little bits and bobs, then we can be in good shape for tomorrow and then of course on Sunday.”

Rookie Pedro Acosta was the top RC16 rider, in third.