Zarco and Bagnaia recover from early crashes to lead Ducati 1-2 in FP1
As he built himself up for a first flying lap, reigning MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo took advantage of all the run-off and more on the exit of turn 10 (Club corner) - the Yamaha rider dipped his rear wheel in the grass coming back across the white line.
Francesco Bagnaia was one of several riders to have lap times deleted early on, showing that track limits will potentially play a key role this weekend.
Eager to practice his Long Lap penalty ahead of Sunday’s race, Quartararo used his third flying lap to familiarise himself with what is one of the shorter Long Lap loops on the calendar.
While Alex Rins and Suzuki led the way courtesy of an impressive start to FP1, there was early drama for two of the main title contenders.
Bagnaia suffered a fast crash at turn four after losing the front-end of his Desmosedici GP-22 machine, before Quartararo lost power aboard his M1 Yamaha just before reaching pit lane.
Luckily for Quartararo, Ducati rider Jack Miller was quick to supply his yearly taxi service as he pushed the world champion back to his garage.
What appeared to be a fuelling problem for Quartararo was soon resolved by his team, as the French rider returned to the Silverstone circuit on the same machine that previously lost power.
In last place following his early issues, Quartararo began to finally show his true potential as he quickly moved into the top ten.
As Rins regained top spot from Vinales, Quartararo then moved up to second spot with a time of 2:00.746s - +0.219s off Rins.
A troublesome FP1 for Ducati continued as Pramac rider Johann Zarco suffered a crash at turn seven.
On course to improve his time, Aleix Espargaro made an error coming into turn 13 which cost him the opportunity of moving up from fourth place.
Fighting for his MotoGP future, Pol Espargaro enjoyed a strong start at Silverstone after occupying sixth for much of the session.
Last year’s pole sitter at Silverstone was then moved down to seventh as Brad Binder jumped into the top ten for KTM, while Aleix Espargaro went second for Aprilia with just over five minutes remaining.
As lap times began to ramp up, Quartararo was the first to overhaul Rins thanks to a time of 2:00.438s.
However, it was the Ducatis of Zarco and Bagnaia who stole the show as they put their early crashes behind them in order to break the 2m barrier.
Zarco ended the session quickest by just 0.027s, while Rins regained a top three spot late on.
