Marco Bezzecchi leads first MotoGP practice at Silverstone ahead of three Ducati colleagues – Francesco Bagnaia 14th – No Honda in top 10
Marco Bezzecchi has started the Silverstone MotoGP weekend with a fastest time. The VR46 rider lapped the circuit in 2’00.295 in cloudy and chilly weather, leading a Ducati quartet of teammate Luca Marini and Pramac duo Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco.
Thanks to a new rule, the first MotoGP practice session on a race weekend no longer counts in the classification that ultimately decides who goes straight into Q2 and who has to line up in Q1. That’s why it’s called first free practice again.
For the riders it was the first contact with their MotoGP bikes in five weeks. For the many injured riders in the field, the last ride was even longer ago. So the main thing was to build up a feeling for the bike again and to familiarise themselves with the track.
The biggest forced break was behind Pol Espargaro, who had to undergo a long rehabilitation as a result of his heavy crash in Portimao. Now the Spaniard is back with the Tech 3 GasGas team. Honda riders Marc Marquez and Joan Mir also celebrate their injury comeback in Silverstone.
Brand colleague Alex Rins has to take a further break due to his broken tibia and will be replaced by Iker Lecuona at LCR this MotoGP weekend.
Technical innovations could be seen at some teams. Takaaki Nakagami had fitted a new aerodynamic package to one of his LCR Hondas, reminiscent of the Ducati and KTM solutions. Yamaha also showed a new fairing. Aprilia used a new swingarm for more stability.
NEW HRC AERO! similar to KTM and Ducati. Much more downforce than before pic.twitter.com/EthdslJnJf
– Mat Oxley (@matoxley) August 4, 2023
In the classification, Bezzecchi set the pace for much of the session. Halfway through the session, the current World Championship bronze medallist led the field with a time of 2’00.885 ahead of Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro and VR46 teammate Marini.
Even though the riders refrained from putting on fresh tyres, the pace picked up a bit towards the end. Bezzecchi and Marini took turns at the front, but in the end Bezzecchi had the lead again.
Marini was only 36 thousandths behind in second place. Martin was also only 0.075 seconds off the set time. His Pramac team-mate Zarco completed the Ducati line-up in fourth. Jack Miller (KTM) rounded out the Top 5.
An unlucky out-lap for @FrankyMorbido12!
The cool conditions catch him out at Turn 7 ⚠️BritishGP pic.twitter.com/au0lzYKu1L
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) August 4, 2023
Aleix Espargaro dropped back to sixth place. Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha), who caused the only crash in the second half of the session, was seventh. Behind them were Raul Fernandez (RNF-Aprilia), Maverick Vinales (Aprilia) and Fabio Quartarari (Yamaha), who was just under a second back.
World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) finished the first practice in 14th place, followed by Marc Marquez. His Honda colleagues Nakagami, Mir and Lecuona were 18th, 20th and 21st respectively. They were all more than two seconds behind. Pol Espargaro was 22nd and last.
In the practice start session that followed, Enea Bastianini (Ducati) caused another crash when he was thrown off at turn 12. Vinales could not even start because he had stalled his Aprilia shortly before.
