The #73 leaves it late to pinch P1 from the Frenchman as a relentless Practice plays out at Silverstone.
As Friday afternoons go, that was a very good one. Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) snatched P1 from second place Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) with a cracking new all-time lap record on his final flying lap. The #73’s 1:57.295 means he’s the rider with a target on his back heading into Saturday at the Tissot Grand Prix of the United Kingdom, as Jack Miller (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) rounds out the top three on a bright afternoon for Yamaha at Silverstone.
A DRAMATIC OPENING FEW MINS
Less than 15 minutes into Practice, three crashes unfolded – one for Miller, one for Franco Morbidelli (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) and one for Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team). The six-time MotoGP World Champion was on the floor at Turn 3 as the FP1 pacesetter’s session suffered an early setback, with all three uninjured.
HOW THE TOP 10 RACE UNFOLDED
The early Practice pacesetter was Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing), with Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) enjoying a good start his Friday afternoon as well. The #42 was P2 ahead of the recovering Miller, Alex Marquez sat in P4 with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) climbing up to P5 just north of the half hour mark to demote Marc Marquez to P6.
Times started to tumble with 25 minutes to go. Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3) went fastest before Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) pipped his compatriot to rise into P1, as the top five were split by 0.098s – Mir, Viñales, Bezzecchi, Quartararo and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team). Meanwhile, Marc Marquez and teammate Bagnaia were lingering outside the top 10 in P12 and P13. Work to do for the Bologna bullets.
As expected, it didn’t stay that way for long. For one of the Ducati stars anyway. Marquez, with Rins tucked in behind, set a 1:57.866 to sail to the summit of the session. Rins slotted into P2, three tenths shy of the #93, as the goalposts were well and truly moved by the title chase frontrunner.
A new leader then emerged though – French GP hero Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR). A classy lap from the Frenchman saw him go P1 but on his next lap, Marquez improved again to reclaim the advantage. That changed pretty sharpish though because Di Giannantonio beat Marquez by 0.006s, as we saw Bagnaia jump into the top 10 with 12 minutes to go.
Bezzecchi was then on a charge and it was the Italian’s 1:57.667 sitting pretty at the top of the timesheets with just under 10 minutes left, with all this movement seeing Alex Marquez suddenly sit in P15. That was then P12, but the lap time wasn’t coming easy for the Spanish GP winner.
Or did we speak too soon? Marquez’s banker lap time was backed up by a rapid, table-topping 1:57.613 to see the #73 deliver when he needed it. In addition, that leap from Marquez meant Viñales was pushed out of the top 10 and Bagnaia was shuffled down to P10.
We then strapped in for a very busy final flurry of laps. Miller moved into P2 before Yamaha counterpart Quartararo grabbed P1 with a brilliant 1:57.342, and with Miguel Oliveira (Prima Pramac Yamaha MotoGP) going into P9, Bagnaia was now P11. Not for long though. Bagnaia improved to drag himself into P6, which was then P7 with Marc Marquez going P4 – and that was all she wrote in the session for the factory Ducati pair.
Would it be enough though? Acosta crept into the top 10 on his final flyer before Fermin Aldeguer (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP) inflicted more pain on his compatriot by pinching P10 off the #37. Meanwhile, Aldeguer’s teammate Alex Marquez set that new all-time lap record to narrowly beat Quartararo, as Marc Marquez and Bagnaia did enough to get into Q2.
THE LAY OF THE LAND AFTER A SCINTILATING FRIDAY
A showstopping Silverstone Practice session sees Marquez and Bezzecchi round out the fastest five on Day 1, with Di Giannantonio P6 ahead of Bagnaia. Zarco’s earlier lap time was good enough to grab P8, the #5 is the lead HRC rider, as Rins holds onto a top 10 place in P9. That means three Yamahas are straight into Q2 for the first time since 2021 – a top job from the Iwata factory. And as mentioned, Aldeguer collected the final automatic Q2 pass as Acosta and Mir miss out on a top 10 by less than a tenth.
What a session that was. It sets us up nicely for Saturday’s action as all eyes look to the skies to see what the weather will bring for qualifying (11:50) and the Tissot Sprint (16:00).
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