Johann Zarco leaves it late to deny Fabio Quartararo top spot in FP1
Before completing his out-lap Alex Marquez had smoke coming from the front of his Gresini Ducati before coming to a stop at the 2a/2b chicane.
A disaster for Marquez who was forced to retire from the British Grand Prix due to a technical issue.
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One of the hardest braking areas on the circuit, turn four caught out Marco Bezzecchi as the Italian ran off-track during the early stages.
After leading the way thanks to a low 1m 30s lap time, Vinales was eventually surpassed when Quartararo put his factory Yamaha on top.
Making a strong start for Honda was Takaaki Nakagami as the Honda rider settled into P3.
Augusto Fernandez, who earlier in the week confirmed he has a contract with KTM for 2024, was the first rider to crash after going down at the 2a/2b chicane.
Aleix Espargaro was the next rider to struggle under braking for turn four as the Aprilia rider ran through the gravel.
The same then transpired for Miguel Oliveira and Marc Marquez, as both riders also avoided crashing.
With time attacks being saved for this afternoon’s Practice 2 session, positions remained largely the same although Alex Marquez popped his Ducati in third with under ten minutes remaining.
Marquez then suffered another moment at turn four although this time it resulted in a crash for the eight-time world champion.
It was a slow fall for the Repsol Honda rider who was unfazed as he continued on for the final couple of minutes.
Bezzecchi then ran into trouble for the second time as he ran off circuit at the chicane.
With time running out Johann Zarco made it an all-French 1-2 after setting the first sub 90s lap of the weekend. Zarco’s time of 1:29.838s was close to four tenths clear of Quartararo.
