British MotoGP, Silverstone - Free Practice (1) Results

* Rookie
Official Silverstone MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 58.168s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 59.936s (2019)

Johann Zarco and Francesco Bagnaia overcome accidents to lead opening practice for the British MotoGP at Silverstone.

Bagnaia, looking to turn attention firmly back to on-track activities after the summer break drink-driving incident, suffered his early fall through the fast Maggots/Becketts section.

At almost the same time, title leader Fabio Quartararo - who had earlier tried out the Long Lap loop in preparation for Sunday's penalty - lost power from his M1 and needed a push back to the pits by Bagnaia's Ducati team-mate Jack Miller.

That technical issue left the title leader last on the timesheets by the halfway stage, as Aprilia's Maverick Vinales set the pace from fellow Silverstone winner Alex Rins and LCR's Takaaki Nakagami.

But once back on track, Quartararo swiftly climbed to second behind new leader Rins, while fellow Frenchman Zarco slid off his Pramac Ducati at Stowe corner, at the end of Hangar straight.

Long-time leader Rins was toppled by Quartararo and Bagnaia in the closing minutes. The Suzuki rider briefly retaliated to snatch P1 back, before Zarco saved his best for last with the first sub 2m lap of the weekend and Bagnaia demoted Rins to third.

Fabio Quartararo starts the British MotoGP, the first event after the summer break, with a reduced 21-point lead over Aleix Espargaro after suffering a first DNF of the season at Assen.

Crucially, the French star will also need to serve a Long Lap penalty in Sunday’s Silverstone race as punishment for forcing Espargaro off-track during the misjudged pass, which ended with the Yamaha rider on the ground before a second accident ended his Dutch drama.

Both Quartararo and Espargaro have good memories of Silverstone from last year, when Quartararo won from the Suzuki of Alex Rins and Espargaro held off the Ducati of Jack Miller to claim the RS-GP’s first-ever MotoGP podium.

Espargaro and Aprilia’s spectacular season means, despite the Assen incident and handing away another near-certain rostrum in Barcelona, the Spaniard arrives in the UK seeking a sixth podium and second win of the year.

Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco is best of the rest in third, albeit 58 points from Quartararo and still seeking a long overdue premier-class win, with Factory Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia eight points behind after taking three wins and three DNFs in the last six races.

Silverstone will be Bagnaia’s first MotoGP event since his drink-driving incident in Ibiza.

Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) and Jorge Martin (Pramac) remain locked in battle to be Bagnaia’s 2023 team-mate, with Silverstone likely to be their last chance to impress before an end-of-August decision is made.

Triple race winner Bastianini has slipped to fifth in the standings after his early season heroics, with 2021 winner Martin currently eleventh with two second-places.

Just two points separate Brad Binder and future KTM team-mate Miller in the fight for sixth in the championship, with the same slim margin splitting Joan Mir and Alex Rins in their last season as Suzuki team-mates.

While Rins officially confirmed a switch to LCR Honda during the summer break, Mir’s expected move to Repsol Honda in place of Pol Espargaro is still to be confirmed.

With Marc Marquez still recovering from his latest arm surgery, Espargaro – tipped to make a return to KTM and Tech3 next season - is again partnered by HRC test rider Stefan Bradl this weekend.

2022 British MotoGP, Silverstone - Race weekend schedule (UK time)

Friday August 5

9am - Moto3 Free Practice 1

9.55am - MotoGP Free Practice 1

10.55am - Moto2 Free Practice 1

1.15pm - Moto3 Free Practice 2

2.10pm - MotoGP Free Practice 2

3.10pm - Moto2 Free Practice 2

Saturday August 6

9am - Moto3 Free Practice 3

9.55am - MotoGP Free Practice 3

10.55am - Moto2 Free Practice 2

12.35pm - Moto3 Qualifying 1

1pm - Moto3 Qualifying 2

1.30pm - MotoGP Free Practice 4

2.10pm - MotoGP Qualifying 1

2.35pm - MotoGP Qualifying 2

3.10pm - Moto2 Qualifying 1

3.35pm - Moto2 Qualifying 2

Sunday August 7

9.20am - Moto3 warm-up

9.40am - MotoGP warm-up

10.10am - Moto2 warm-up

11.20am - Moto3 race

1pm - MotoGP race

2.30pm - Moto2 race