MotoGP hits the track in action-packed first day

An overcast sky and Silverstone’s iconic wing building provided the backdrop for the first sessions of MotoGP along with its four hotly contested support series. The premier class’ afternoon Practice session determined the ten riders progressing through to Qualifying 2 whilst the home heroes set their first laps in front of an enthusiastic British crowd.

MotoGP 
Free Practice 1Marco Bezzecchi started his British Grand Prix weekend strongly, setting a 2:00.885 early in the session to sit atop the pile for much of the running. Franco Morbidelli had contrasting fortunes when he became the first of several riders to crash out at Luffield. Bezzecchi would be joined by his Mooney VR46 Racing Team stablemate Luca Marini in the session’s final ten minutes as the duo demonstrated some formation flying. They ended the session at the top of the timesheets led by Bezzecchi and Jorge Martín rounded out the top three. Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia was visibly frustrated with his Ducati as he failed to set a competitive lap time in the closing stages. 

PracticeIn the first running of the Q2-determining Practice, Bezzecchi looked to maintain his momentum by going fastest once again. Just like the previous session, Silverstone’s challenging corners would catch out several riders, the first of which was Maverick Viñales. A high-speed off at Stowe meant that Marini joined the Spaniard on the sidelines. As the clock ticked down to 15 minutes, the times started to tumble as the field looked to set representative times and progress through to Q2. By that time, Viñales was back on track and had a point to prove, setting a lap time three tenths quicker than his nearest competitor. Bezzecchi would become the next rider to be caught out by Luffield with a huge high side in the closing minutes. At the session’s conclusion, Aleix Espargaró held the fastest time followed by Martín and Brad Binder. Two high profile riders in the shape of Marc Márquez and Fabio Quartararo will have to battle it out in Q1 having failed to make the cut-off for Q2. 

Moto2Across the two practice sessions in Moto2, home favourite Jake Dixon pleased the crowd with multiple top-three lap times, but in his pursuit of ultimate pace ended up in the gravel at Vale towards the end of the second session. Compatriot Sam Lowes, meanwhile, was out on track for the duration of the first session getting as much track time as possible. With the combined lap times calculated, Dixon ended the day sixth fastest with Lowes not far behind in ninth and Rory Skinner in P26. At the sharp end, it was Arón Canet who claimed the top spot ahead of Alonso López and Fermín Aldeguer. 

Moto3 The opening Moto3 session of the weekend was a closely fought one. Iván Ortolá took the top spot just one hundredth ahead of Jaume Masià and Ayumu Sasaki another hundredth further back. The British riders, meanwhile, set the P16 and P20 fastest lap times for Scott Ogden and Joshua Whatley respectively. Following the second practice and with the combined times from both sessions, Masià was fastest of all ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki and Diogo Moreira with Ogden P11 and Whatley P19.
 

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