MotoGP

Ducati pair crash then go quickest at Silverstone MotoGP

by Matt Beer
3 min read

Ducati’s Johann Zarco and Pecco Bagnaia led MotoGP’s first British Grand Prix practice session at Silverstone, despite both riders crashing.

Factory rider Bagnaia’s early fall happened in the middle of the fast Becketts complex.

He was soon back in the pits and out on his spare bike, but languished in the midfield initially.

Then in the final minutes Bagnaia got up to speed and was swapping the top spot with long-time pacesetter and 2019 Silverstone winner Alex Rins of Suzuki.

But both were usurped by Pramac rider Zarco, who had fallen on turn-in at Stowe before doing a 1m59.893s on his spare bike right at the end to beat Bagnaia by 0.027s.

Rins in third was the only rider in the top four that didn’t have any problem during the session, as there was also a scare for championship leader Fabio Quartararo.

His Yamaha cut out going onto the Wellington straight early on.

He initially tried to half-scoot, half-push it back to the pits, then got some help from Jack Miller, whose Ducati he was able to lean on as it gently assisted the Yamaha into the pitlane.

Quartararo rejoined and went fourth-fastest.

He also spent much of the session practicing the long lap penalty section at The Loop, which he will have to visit during the race as a punishment for his collision with title rival Aleix Espargaro at Assen before the summer break.

Espargaro was sixth in the session, behind fastest Honda rider Taka Nakagami of LCR, and just ahead of Aprilia team-mate Maverick Vinales – who had been fastest in the early running.

Joan Mir, Jorge Martin and Brad Binder completed the top 10.

The session provided more evidence of why Andrea Dovizioso isn’t hanging around until the end of his RNF season, as he was only 20th fastest. That still made him second-best Yamaha, with Franco Morbidelli and Darryn Binder 21st and 24th respectively.

Practice 1 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati 1m59.893s
2 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.027s +0.027s 1m59.92s
3 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.3s +0.327s 2m0.22s
4 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.218s +0.545s 2m0.438s
5 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +0.01s +0.555s 2m0.448s
6 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.182s +0.737s 2m0.63s
7 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.169s +0.906s 2m0.799s
8 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.044s +0.95s 2m0.843s
9 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati +0.105s +1.055s 2m0.948s
10 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.046s +1.101s 2m0.994s
11 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.046s +1.147s 2m01.04s
12 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.015s +1.162s 2m01.055s
13 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.057s +1.219s 2m01.112s
14 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.008s +1.227s 2m01.12s
15 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda +0.054s +1.281s 2m01.174s
16 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.045s +1.326s 2m01.219s
17 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.32s +1.646s 2m01.539s
18 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.039s +1.685s 2m01.578s
19 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.029s +1.714s 2m01.607s
20 Andrea Dovizioso WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.141s +1.855s 2m01.748s
21 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.027s +1.882s 2m01.775s
22 Stefan Bradl Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.287s +2.169s 2m02.062s
23 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.117s +2.286s 2m02.179s
24 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.386s +2.672s 2m02.565s
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