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Silverstone MotoGP: Quartararo sets searing pace in first practice

Fabio Quartararo was fastest by a dominant margin in first British Grand Prix practice at Silverstone, while fellow Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales crashed and Jorge Lorenzo returned to MotoGP action

Following the cancellation of last year's British GP, Silverstone underwent a complete resurfacing ahead of the 2019 event.

Marc Marquez set pace on the new asphalt in the early stages.

The Honda rider established an early benchmark of 2m03.666s, which he soon improved to a 2m01.360s to go four tenths of a second clear of the field.

Marquez continued to lower the benchmark, moving seven tenths away from the rest with an effort of 2m01.037s after 15 minutes.

That time would be steadily chipped away at by Quartararo and Vinales, with the latter getting to within 0.126s midway through before he suffered a fast crash at Stowe corner.

He was unscathed and returned to the action in the latter stages to end up third fastest, albeit 0.740s behind Quartararo.

Marquez once again eked out a margin of four tenths with a 2m00.645s moments after Vinales's crash, but was finally usurped by Quartararo - who came close to the outright lap record with a 1m59.952s with three minutes remaining.

The Petronas SRT rider came under no threat through to the chequered flag, with Marquez only marginally improving to end the session 0.586s adrift.

Suzuki's Alex Rins leaped up to fourth after a steady start to the session, edging the second SRT bike of Franco Morbidelli and 2017 Silverstone race winner Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati).

Dovizioso was shadowed by the second works Yamaha of Valentino Rossi in seventh, with home hero Cal Crutchlow's LCR Honda heading Ducati duo Danilo Petrucci and Jack Miller (Pramac) in eighth spot.

Tito Rabat, who suffered a horrific leg injury at Silverstone during a wet fourth practice last year, was just 0.054s outside the top 10 in 11th, leading Aprilia duo Aleix Espargaro - who ran second early on - and Andrea Iannone.

In his first appearance since announcing his shock departure from KTM at the end of the season, Johann Zarco was fastest of its runners in 15th ahead of Tech3's Miguel Oliveira, who suffered a technical issue at the start of the session.

Honda's Jorge Lorenzo brought up the rear of the field in 22nd on his first MotoGP outing since breaking his back in a crash during first practice at Assen. He ended the session 4.4s down having completed 16 laps.

Karel Abraham was the only other faller in the session, the Avintia rider also crashing at Stowe.

Practice one times

Pos Rider Team Time Gap Laps
1 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha 1m59.952s - 17
2 Marc Marquez Honda 2m00.538s 0.586s 17
3 Maverick Vinales Yamaha 2m00.692s 0.740s 16
4 Alex Rins Suzuki 2m00.979s 1.027s 16
5 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha 2m01.002s 1.050s 18
6 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m01.005s 1.053s 15
7 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m01.298s 1.346s 18
8 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda 2m01.395s 1.443s 16
9 Danilo Petrucci Ducati 2m01.438s 1.486s 14
10 Jack Miller Pramac Ducati 2m01.535s 1.583s 15
11 Tito Rabat Avintia Ducati 2m01.589s 1.637s 19
12 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 2m01.658s 1.706s 15
13 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 2m01.810s 1.858s 14
14 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Ducati 2m01.852s 1.900s 16
15 Johann Zarco KTM 2m01.860s 1.908s 16
16 Miguel Oliveira Tech3 KTM 2m01.865s 1.913s 13
17 Pol Espargaro KTM 2m02.028s 2.076s 16
18 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda 2m02.062s 2.110s 17
19 Karel Abraham Avintia Ducati 2m02.192s 2.240s 12
20 Sylvain Guintoli Suzuki 2m02.557s 2.605s 14
21 Hafizh Syahrin Tech3 KTM 2m03.058s 3.106s 14
22 Jorge Lorenzo Honda 2m04.354s 4.402s 16


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