Silverstone Friday round up – MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE

MotoGP 2023

Round Nine  Silverstone

MotoGP Friday Practice

MotoGP is back with a bang as the riders enjoyed a dry opening day of practice at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) absolutely shot out the blocks to be over six-tenths clear at the top. This is the first Friday with the new FREE Practice 1, and renamed afternoon Practice counting towards Q2.

In second it’s Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), who seemed to have a firm hold of the top spot with the chequered flag already out before Aleix Espargaro struck. Martin wasn’t the only rider to hit the top in the closing stages and then be denied by the Aprilia missile either, as Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was looking incredibly strong on his KTM as he put in a solid time attack to hit the front but ultimately finished third quickest on Friday.

Not only was Silverstone the scene of the manufacturer’s first podium in the modern MotoGP era when Aleix Espargaro finished third there in 2021, but it also saw Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) pick up his first podium for Aprilia just one year ago. This time out Viñales suffered a big high-side early on in Practice which winded the Spaniard, it didn’t stop him from pushing on however as he went top with just over ten-minutes remaining and continued to post impressive lap times to finish the day in 4th, just 0.006s away from the top 3.

Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) rounded out the top 5 as the Frenchman put in a solid Friday Practice run.

It was looking as if Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) was struggling for form in Free Practice 1, but he seemed to find more in the afternoon Practice session. The number one-plated Ducati was in the danger zone towards the closing stages, but then decided it was crunch time and found an extra gear to hit the top before a plethora of fast laps demoted him to sixth. The Championship leader is slowly building into his weekend and will be one to watch.

The Mooney VR46 Racing Team were looking in fine fettle during the morning session, using team tactics to their advantage with Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini locked together on the circuit as they took the top two spots in FP1.

The VR46 duo used the same tactics during the afternoon practice session too, and enjoyed the most of it at the sharp end. Marini then unfortunately suffered a fast crash and was unable to improve, Bezzecchi then met the same fate and joined his team-mate in the gravel trap whilst pushing for a fast lap in the closing stages. Both riders managed to secure Q2 spots, however, with Bezzecchi finishing in 7th place and Marini rounding out the top 9.

The two KTMs were also on a charge as they both went to the top of the time-sheets with just under a quarter of an hour remaining. Whilst Binder held on to the top 3 after the flag, Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) slipped down to 8th place seeing him slot in between the VR46 duo.

Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) took the final Q2 spot as the Spaniard rounded the top 10, forcing some big hitters to compete in Q1 session.

Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) is one of the names that will be competing in Q1 after missing out on the top 10 by just 0.127s, taking P11. The Frenchman also had his team-mate Franco Morbidelli latched to his back wheel as the Italian sits in P12 a fraction behind Quartararo.

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Despite jumping into the top 10 in the closing stages, Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) will also compete in Q1 after being bumped down to 13th. The Spaniard states he’s taking a “calmer” approach this weekend in hopes of bringing home some solid points.

Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) rounded out the top 15 to kickstart his second half of the season. The Italian hopes to be closer to 100 per cent this weekend in fitness, and will want a lot more from Saturday.

MotoGP Friday FP1 Resuts

MotoGP Friday Practice Results

MotoGP Riders

Aleix Espargaro – P1

“I won’t hide that I am satisfied. I pushed but without exaggerating, remembering what happened last year. After the Silverstone crash, when I was the fastest, I lost a bit of lustre, so the main objective today was to find my pace without making mistakes. This morning free practice session helped me, I was able to properly try a couple of new items and I must say that Aprilia and Lorenzo (Savadori) have done a good job over the summer break. In the finale, I put a good lap together. The bike and my riding style adapt well to the layout of Silverstone.”

Maverick Vinales – P4

“The crash was a violent one, not to mention a bit strange and unexpected. Fortunately, I managed to get back out on the track, testing both pace and my flying lap and feeling good in both situations. I tried the new fairing which seems to be an improvement, whereas tomorrow I’d like to test the new swingarm too. I have pain now, but I’m able to ride and that is the most important thing. We’ll assess my condition tomorrow morning.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P6

“I had some small problems with the bike this morning that didn’t allow me to ride in the best way possible. This afternoon we worked well, and I improved my feeling, but I just had one lap to do the time attack, and it went well, so I’m happy with that. Also, the feeling with the medium tyres, new or used, was OK. We did a good job; looking at the session, it seems we are struggling, but I’m happy with the work. The conditions were not the best, but it’s OK. I hope tomorrow it’s either all-wet or all-dry, not mixed conditions, because on this track, it’s very difficult to control everything, but we will have to adapt to be competitive, and that’s it.”

Marco Bezzecchi – P7

“A real shame about the crash, a very strong high side, but apart from some pain now, I’m still happy with the sensations while riding. I felt really good. We checked the data and figured out what went wrong. It was my out lap and I push too much on the tires. Overall, I was fast straight away from this morning and this afternoon I felt even better. I just have to work on the entry of the corner, I’m not at 100 per cent. Tomorrow the weather will be different, the wet is always tricky, but it will be like this for everyone.”

Jack Miller – P8

“When you have 5 weeks off the bike you’re definitely a bit nervous, good to see I can remember to put the knee down.. Still a little bit of work to do on the bike to get a little more grip but it’s good to be in the fast lane to Q2 with this weather coming in.”

Luca Marini – P9

“Not bad for the first day after the summer break. I’m happy with the Top10, it’s always the first goal of the weekend because it makes everything much less complicated. I’m sorry about the crash, I had just put the soft on the rear to work on the pace from a sprint perspective. With the medium in front, I always struggle a bit, while with the soft, even considering the temperatures, I felt good. In terms of flying lap I wasn’t able to be perfect, but the pace isn’t bad at all. Tomorrow there will be rain, but for Sunday we are well advanced.”

Alex Marquez – P10

“We struggled a bit more this morning, but then we got things right for FP2. Maybe we would have deserved a better finishing position, but we got a good lap cancelled. Generally speaking, we had a good feeling straight away and after five weeks of break it wasn’t a given. We still need to improve something grip-wise at the rear-end, but today we needed to seal the access to Q2 and we did it.”

Fabio Quartararo – P11

“Of course, this was not how I wanted to end my day. We will have to work to figure out what we need to improve. This is a track where it‘s difficult to test a fairing, so we will have another chance in Austria. I tried it this morning, but I don’t think we will use it again in this GP because down force is not something we really need here. Of course, in Austria we will use it, and I think maybe there it will be especially positive for us. I didn‘t find the wind the biggest issue today. I was more concerned with finding grip, and I‘m struggling in the last sector. I can‘t lean like I want, so we have to figure out why that is and what we have to do for tomorrow.”

Franco Morbidelli – P12

“It was a tricky day. It was pretty cold, and with hard tyres, it‘s tricky. But anyway, we managed to get some work done for Sunday‘s race. It seems like it‘s going to rain tomorrow, so today was really important to understand the dry tyres and get some work done on them, and we did it. That‘s positive. The pace is not so bad, but unfortunately we were not able to get into Q2. I had to slow down during a hot lap and then the tyre got a bit too cold. I couldn‘t do anything more on that lap. Anyway, we will try to do a good job tomorrow.”

Marc Marquez – P13

“We spent today going in a steady way to get the confidence back, I started a little stiff but I improved towards the end. Of course we would like to be closer to the top of the time sheets, but at the moment we need to focus on improving what we have. Physically, I have some pain in my right leg, around the abductor muscles, but it is what it is and we keep working. The focus this weekend is inside my team and myself, building a base and getting stronger.”

Miguel Oliveira – P14

“I was not too happy about today because I had the ideal lap for Q2 but I couldn’t put everything together. Also, I had a new frame to try today and there were some positives and negatives. Going into the time attack, I just couldn’t be consistent and that was a shame. But overall, I think we have the potential to be faster, so hopefully tomorrow we can put everything together. It looks like the weather will be more challenging than today so it’s all about getting the pace as quick as possible.”

Enea Bastianini – P15

“I crashed when I was doing my practice start after the first session, the rear tyre was so cold because the conditions were not good today, but nothing really happened, and I was OK. During the afternoon, I made some steps on the front compared to the morning, but I’m not really close to the other guys, so we must improve more to stay with them on Sunday. Tomorrow probably, it will rain, and we will have to change mentality and riding style. In case of dry conditions, we will try to modify the setup to understand if we can do any steps, and we will see what we can do for Sunday.”

Fabio Di Giannantonio – P16

“I was expecting to be quicker already this morning; in the afternoon we made an excellent step, even though it wasn’t enough to get into Q2. We’re still missing something riding wise and we need to work on the engine brake in order to perform better, but we can do a good job tomorrow. The right arm is responding well after surgery, maybe it’s still not perfect, but I’m always better.”

Raul Fernandez – P17

“In general, it was a good day for us. It was super good in FP1, the new format is a bit more relaxing and we had less crashes. I had an opportunity to work with the hard tyre for the race as I think tomorrow will be wet and we wouldn’t have this chance. During the Practice session and with the track temperature, it was quite hard to manage the rear tyre within each lap, especially on my right side, during the last run it was very hard to manage the temperature on the rear and it caused me to lose a lot of time. If we have wet conditions tomorrow, it would be interesting.”

Joan Mir – P18

“I have had to be patient to get to this point but it was great to be back on the bike again and with the team. We started with the base that we were using in Le Mans because I felt the most competitive with it in the first part of the season. After the time away, I needed a couple of laps to understand everything but overall it was quite natural. Today was about working with what we have, the electronics are an area we are working on. Of course, we need to keep improving, but it is important to keep being patient and take it step by step.”

Augusto Fernandez – P19

“It was a hard day, but we can take the positives from both Brad Binder and Jack Miller who were very competitive today, so the bike has potential here. We will work hard tonight to try to make a big step tomorrow, but we are also facing the weather uncertainty. We can progress on the dry, but on the wet it might be a bit more challenging.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P20

“We’ve been testing some items today, and I felt good in some areas. We are analysing the information to adjust the bike and take a step forward. The weather forecasts rain for tomorrow, so we need to pay attention to every detail and adapt to the situation”.

Pol Espargaro – P21

“Amazing day! I was very slow on the first lap, but it felt like the lap of my life!  At the moment everything is coming so fast to my brain and I need to process everything that is happening. It is only when you jump on this bike that you realise that it is so fast and powerful, and I need more time to understand everything again, the brakes, the accelerations, etc. But it will come again. Today was a good day – I spent the day to see where I am after all these months, I did not want to make stupid mistakes. I pushed a bit more this afternoon with the time attacks, and I am still a bit far from the rest of the top riders, but the feelings are coming back. It is important to go step by step, so now we are focusing on tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – P22

“I didn’t feel as comfortable as I expected, but we are working to improve to find a solution. The positive thing is that tomorrow’s weather forecasts rain, and I love these conditions, so I honestly can’t wait to ride under the water!”.

MotoGP Championship Points

Moto2 Friday Practice

Aron Canet (Pons Wegwow Los40) is the rider to beat in Moto2 at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix as the Spaniard heads into Saturday’s action on top of the combined standings after setting a 2:04.420. The SpeedUp duo were in hot pursuit and by no means letting their compatriot have it all his own way, as Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools SpeedUp) and Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp) finished 0.063s and 0.137s away from Canet’s top time.

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) is showing good pace at Silverstone despite walking slightly wounded after a training crash over summer. The title contender bagged P4 after Friday’s practice sessions. Ai Ogura (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) rounded out the top 5 ahead of Jake Dixon (Tensite GASGAS Aspar Team) who started his home Grand Prix with a P6 after the combined Friday practice sessions.

Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) finished Day 1 in 7th place with Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) on his tail in 8th. Sam Lowes (Elf MarcVDS Racing Team) finished Day 1 of what could be his final British Grand Prix in 9th place ahead of Somkiat Chantra (IDEMISTU Honda Team Asia) who rounded out the top 10.

Moto2 Friday Practice Results (Combined)

Moto2 Championship Points

Moto3 Friday Practice

Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) put down a 2:11.403 to keep the field at arm’s length, with his team-mate Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) bagging P2 just 0.113s behind. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets MSI) was threatening the top spot as well but Leopard teamwork on the circuit worked a treat as the Brazilian was forced to settle for 3rd spot, 0.450s away from Masia.

Practice 2 saw the riders take big chunks out of their lap times with a late time attack from the field seeing slipstreaming come into full effect at the longest circuit on the Grand Prix calendar. Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) and Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team) put the hammer down to secure 4th and 5th respectively, with Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) taking P6 on the combined timings despite topping the P1 session.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders were locked together as Deniz Öncü and Jose Antonio Rueda finished Friday in 7th and 8th respectively. Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) finished in P3 in Practice 1 but crashed very early on in Practice 2, losing the front through Becketts to remount and set the 9th fastest time of the day, with Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) rounding out the top 10.

Joel Kelso was just outside the top ten for most of Friday but slipped to 17th late in the session.

Moto3 Friday FP1

Moto3 Friday FP2

Moto3 Championship Points

MotoE Qualifying

There could be some serious shifts in the FIM Enel MotoE World Championship standings on Saturday as qualifying sets the scene for two classic showdowns at Silverstone.

Eric Granado (LCR E-Team) will start from his first pole of the season after navigating a start-stop Q2 interrupted by a Red Flag, with Mattia Casadei (HP Pons Los40) and Hector Garzo (Dynavolt Intact GP MotoE) joining him on the front row.

Crashes for both points leader Jordi Torres (Openbank Aspar Team) AND closest challenger Matteo Ferrari (Felo Gresini MotoE) – riders ok – see them start from the third row, and Ferrari also has a Long Lap penalty for Race 1 after his crash came under yellow flags out for the Torres incident.

Before all that, it was Casadei and Andrea Mantovani (RNF MotoE™ Team) who moved through from a calmer Q1, but the drama hit in Q2 as that crash for Torres see him lose out on a chance at pole – and cancel some laps due to the yellow flags. Ferrari then crashed in the incident that would earn him the Long Lap, and that caused even more drama: as the Gresini machine remained in the gravel, the Red Flag came out with just over two minutes to go.

Once cleared, it was announced the session would restart for three minutes, allowing the riders to head back out for one more shot at it. Not all did, but the session came to a frenetic close with Granado on pole for the first time in 2023, back on top after a tougher start to the season. Casadei takes second despite coming from Q1, and with Garzo in third it’s three riders who could gain big in the standings as the two at the top start from further back.

MotoE Friday Q1 Results

MotoE Friday Q2 Results

British GP Schedule (AEST)

Saturday

Sunday

2023 MotoGP Calendar