Quartararo nips Marquez in opening Silverstone practice

Fabio Quartararo
Fabio Quartararo

Rookie sensation Fabio Quartararo put his Yamaha on top in opening practice for the British GP MotoGP race at Silverstone, once again embarrassing the two factory Yamaha riders – Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi who were 3rd and 4th quick.

Marc Marquez made the most of a newly resurfaced Silverstone to go under the old lap record while his teammate Jorge Lorenzo, who Marquez has destroyed mentally, returned to riding the Repsol Honda Team RC213V for the first time since Assen and was dead last.

2018’s torrential rain was nowhere to be seen as the opening day of practice began at Silverstone for round 12 of the 2019 MotoGP World Championship. Track temperature increased to 40°C as the day went on and fans were treated to a classic British summer’s day.

The newly resurfaced Silverstone circuit was immediately fast, Marquez able to consistently lap in the mid-2’00s throughout Free Practice 1. A harmless crash at Turn 8 during FP2 saw the championship leader miss just a few minutes of the session as he quickly returned to work. Taking advantage of the super-smooth Silverstone circuit and the hot afternoon conditions, Marquez improved on his own lap record to set a lap of 1’59.476 to end Friday practice second overall and put the crash behind him.

Friday Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Bike Time/Gap
1 QUARTARARO Fabio 20 FRA Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 1'59.225
2 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 0.251
3 VINALES Maverick 12 SPA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.540
4 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 0.712
5 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda Honda 0.768
6 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 0.885
7 MORBIDELLI Franco 21 ITA Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 0.958
8 OLIVEIRA Miguel 88 POR Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM 1.135
9 MILLER Jack 43 AUS Pramac Racing Ducati 1.167
10 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Ducati Team Ducati 1.203
11 NAKAGAMI Takaaki 30 JPN LCR Honda Honda 1.267
12 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.272
13 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1.366
14 ZARCO Johann 5 FRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 1.439
15 RINS Alex 42 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 1.441
16 BAGNAIA Francesco 63 ITA Pramac Racing Ducati 1.563
17 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia 1.682
18 RABAT Tito 53 SPA Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 2.364
19 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE Reale Avintia Racing Ducati 2.967
20 GUINTOLI Sylvain 50 FRA Team Suzuki Ecstar Suzuki 3.015
21 SYAHRIN Hafizh 55 MAL Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM 3.192
22 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Repsol Honda Team Honda 3.682