Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Silverstone MotoGP: Marc Marquez breaks lap record as he sets pace

Marc Marquez broke the MotoGP lap record at Silverstone to end day one at the British Grand Prix fastest by almost three tenths of a second ahead of Maverick Vinales

Honda rider Marquez posted a 1m59.476s in the closing moments of the 45-minute afternoon session, taking almost half a second better than his 2017 record of 1m59.941s.

UPDATE: Quartararo reinstated as pacesetter after review

That came despite a low-side crash at Vale for the reigning champion just over 10 minutes into the session, which was his first fall since May's Le Mans round.

Prior to that tumble, Marquez had installed himself at the head of the times with a 2m00.186s, briefly putting him 1.7s clear of the field, although that advantage was quickly reduced.

Morning pacesetter Fabio Quartararo was second-fastest with five minutes remaining, and after putting a fresh soft rear tyre on his Petronas SRT Yamaha he smashed the lap record with a 1m59.225s - only for that time to be disallowed for a track limits infringement.

Shortly afterwards, works Yamaha rider Vinales posted a 1m59.765s to go fastest, but he had to be content with second when he was shaded by Marquez by 0.289s.

Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) was the third and final rider to dip beneath the two-minute barrier, with Andrea Dovizioso just a tenth further back on the leading Ducati.

Franco Morbidelli ended up best of the Petronas Yamahas in fifth ahead of Tech3's Miguel Oliveira, the fastest of the KTM runners by more than two tenths.

Ducati pair Jack Miller and Danilo Petrucci were next up ahead of Aleix Espargaro - whose Aprilia stopped on-track at Brooklands early in the session - and Pol Espargaro on the factory KTM.

Quartararo finished 11th, having messed up his final attempt by running wide at Brooklands, ahead of compatriot Johann Zarco (KTM) and lead Suzuki rider Alex Rins.

Valentino Rossi was another rider to be stripped of his best time due to a track limits infringement, leaving him all the way down in 17th position and 1.6s off the pace.

Jorge Lorenzo concluded his first day of MotoGP running since June's Dutch TT in 21st place, 3.4s off the pace, only beating Karel Abraham's Avintia Ducati.

Practice two times - revised

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha 1m59.225s - 16
2 Marc Marquez Honda 1m59.476s 0.251s 16
3 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 1m59.765s 0.540s 17
4 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m59.937s 0.712s 17
5 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 1m59.993s 0.768s 16
6 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m00.110s 0.885s 16
7 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha 2m00.183s 0.958s 18
8 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM 2m00.360s 1.135s 16
9 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 2m00.392s 1.167s 14
10 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 2m00.428s 1.203s 14
11 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda 2m00.492s 1.267s 16
12 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2m00.497s 1.272s 11
13 Pol Espargaro KTM 2m00.591s 1.366s 16
14 Johann Zarco KTM 2m00.664s 1.439s 16
15 Alex Rins Suzuki 2m00.666s 1.441s 18
16 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati 2m00.788s 1.563s 16
17 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 2m00.907s 1.682s 15
18 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 2m02.240s 3.015s 16
19 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM 2m02.417s 3.192s 16
20 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati 2m02.473s 3.248s 18
21 Jorge Lorenzo Honda 2m02.907s 3.682s 15
22 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati 2m02.993s 3.768s 14

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Zarco's KTM plight reminds Rossi of his Ducati MotoGP misery
Next article Silverstone MotoGP: Quartararo reinstated as practice pacesetter

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe