British MotoGP, Silverstone - Free Practice (2) Results
MotoGP title leader Fabio Quartararo fights back from a nasty highside to lead Friday practice for the 2021 British MotoGP at Silverstone.
After a huge 270km/h lowside for Marc Marquez in FP1, Quartararo was left limping from a much slower but more painful accident in the early stages of FP2.
Quartararo's M1 was flicked into a highside on entry to the Vale (turn 8) chicance. While the Frenchamn fell off the lowisde of the bike, his left foot was struck by the bucking Yamaha, leaving him in visible pain as the came to a rest at the side of the track.
Failing to walk away under his own strength, Quartararo was assisted by marshals before a scooter ride back to the pits where he continued to limp visibly, but was bravely back on track with 24mins still to go and went fastest soon after!
Quartararo then returned to the top by half-a-second in the closing minutes, ahead of the Ducatis of Jack Miller and Jorge Martin. Pol Espargaro enjoyed his best Friday of the season with fourth, but angered his brother Aleix when he held the Aprilia rider up at the end of the session.
Alex Marquez, having fallen this morning, came close to replicating brother Marc's FP1 accident as he heavily damaged his LCR Honda through the highspeed Maggotts/Becketts section this afternoon. Alex was again unharmed.
With Maverick Vinales splitting from Yamaha after Austria, test rider Cal Crutchlow has been moved from Petronas Yamaha to the Monster Yamaha team at Silverstone.
As a result of Crutchlow's move, SRT has called-up Moto2 rider Jake Dixon to make a MotoGP debut in front of his home fans this weekend, riding in place of the injured Franco Morbidelli on the team's 2019-based A-Spec bike.
Dixon improved from a 2m 3.939s (+2.998s) this morning to a 2m 2.601s (+3.284s) this afternoon, remaining 21st.
Aprilia's Lorenzo Savadori is returning to action after missing the second Austrian round due to an ankle injury during a fiery accident with Dani Pedrosa in the first race, but struggled in both Friday sessions.
All riders set their best times of the day in FP2.
This weekend's event marks MotoGP's first visit to Silverstone since before the Covid pandemic, in 2019.
| British MotoGP, Silverstone - Free Practice (2) Results | |||||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time/Diff | Lap | Max | |
| 1 | ^2 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | 1'59.317s | 11/12 | 329k |
| 2 | ^3 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Team (GP21) | +0.512s | 15/15 | 335k |
| 3 | ^10 | Jorge Martin | SPA | Pramac Ducati (GP21)* | +0.622s | 15/15 | 334k |
| 4 | = | Pol Espargaro | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +0.718s | 16/17 | 335k |
| 5 | ˅4 | Marc Marquez | SPA | Repsol Honda (RC213V) | +0.734s | 15/15 | 331k |
| 6 | ^2 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Team (GP21) | +0.785s | 16/16 | 334k |
| 7 | ˅5 | Aleix Espargaro | SPA | Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP) | +0.902s | 15/16 | 335k |
| 8 | ^6 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +0.998s | 15/15 | 330k |
| 9 | ˅2 | Alex Rins | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | +1.075s | 16/16 | 329k |
| 10 | ^6 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +1.083s | 15/15 | 328k |
| 11 | ^6 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | KTM Tech3 (RC16) | +1.096s | 15/15 | 328k |
| 12 | ^6 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Avintia Ducati (GP19)* | +1.231s | 14/14 | 330k |
| 13 | ^2 | Joan Mir | SPA | Suzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR) | +1.408s | 15/16 | 330k |
| 14 | ˅5 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Ducati (GP21) | +1.493s | 3/14 | 335k |
| 15 | ˅9 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +1.553s | 13/15 | 328k |
| 16 | ˅4 | Cal Crutchlow | GBR | Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +1.565s | 16/16 | 330k |
| 17 | ^3 | Luca Marini | ITA | Sky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)* | +1.741s | 15/15 | 328k |
| 18 | ˅7 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | KTM Tech3 (RC16) | +2.088s | 17/17 | 330k |
| 19 | = | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM (RC16) | +2.095s | 15/16 | 331k |
| 20 | ˅10 | Alex Marquez | SPA | LCR Honda (RC213V) | +2.179s | 15/15 | 330k |
| 21 | = | Jake Dixon | GBR | Petronas Yamaha (YZR-M1) | +3.284s | 15/16 | 324k |
| 22 | = | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Aprilia Gresini (RS-GP)* | +5.821s | 2/7 | 322k |
* Rookie
Key:
^X Rider is X positions higher than FP1.
= Rider is same position as FP1.
˅X Rider is X positions lower than FP1.
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)
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
