Martin pips Espargaro as Marc Marquez just holds on to a place in Q2

Ducati and Aprilia are split by 0.045s on Day 1 at Silverstone as the main title contenders all slot inside the top 10.A late flyer from Jorge Martin saw the Prima Pramac Racing star set the early weekend pace at the Monster Energy British Grand Prix, as the #89 edged out 2023 Silverstone victor Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) by 0.045s after clocking a 1:57.911. World Championship leader Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) bagged P3, with the #1 lurking just 0.119s away from his main title challenger as it stands.

It wasn’t an ideal start to Friday afternoon for a pair of Ducatis as both Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) and Marco Bezzecchi (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) were forced to stop due to some form of issue with their respective machines.

Meanwhile, Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) was the early pacesetter, but as we’ve come to expect, the closing 15 minutes was where the thick of the action took place in Practice 1. There were movements aplenty as the other factory Aprilia, Espargaro, climbed to the summit with the clock ticking down, but it was time attack specialist Martin who managed to clinch Friday’s honours with that late time.

Bagnaia also improved towards the end of the session, with teammate Bastianini leaving it until his last lap to set a personal best – the ‘Beast’ ending the day in P4 despite those early bike gremlins. Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) ended Free Practice 1 in P4 and backed that up with a P5 in the afternoon to remind everyone what he’s capable of, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) fronting the GP23 charge in P6.

Miller’s teammate Brad Binder ensured both factory KTM’s are automatically in the Q2 scrap on Saturday morning, with Viñales slipping down the order but holding onto a P8 – job done for Top Gun, but the former Silverstone winner will be hunting for more.

Bezzecchi and Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) were the final two riders to slot inside the top 10, with the eight-time World Champion – who suffered a crash in FP1 – just 0.057s away from finding himself in Q1.

The all-important times for Saturday’s action at the British GP can be found below as qualifying and the Tissot Sprint beckons following an intriguing opening day.

FP2: 10:10 (UTC +1)

Q1: 10:50

Q2: 11.15

Tissot Sprint: 15:00

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