Octo British Grand Prix

FIM MotoGP World Championship

Silverstone Circuit, England

September 2, 2016

Free Practice Two Results (all on Michelin tires):

1. Andrea IANNONE, Italy (DUCATI), 2:01.421

2. Maverick VIÑALES, Spain (SUZUKI), 2:01.721

3. Cal CRUTCHLOW, UK (HONDA), 2:01.917

4. Jorge LORENZO, Spain (YAMAHA), 2:02.032

5. Marc MARQUEZ, Spain (HONDA), 2:02.240

6. Valentino ROSSI, Italy (YAMAHA), 2:02.262

7. Andrea DOVIZIOSO, Italy (DUCATI), 2:02.267

8. Aleix ESPARGARO, Spain (SUZUKI), 2:02.364

9. Dani PEDROSA, Spain (HONDA), 2:02.372

10. Scott REDDING, UK (DUCATI), 2:02.533

11. Pol ESPARGARO, Spain (YAMAHA), 2:02.573

12. Hector BARBERA, Spain (DUCATI), 2:02.608

13. Danilo PETRUCCI, Italy (DUCATI), 2:02.985

14. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (DUCATI), 2:03.118

15. Loris BAZ, France (DUCATI), 2:03.370

16. Yonny HERNANDEZ, Colombia (DUCATI), 2:03.380

17. Jack MILLER, Australia (HONDA), 2:03.631

18. Stefan BRADL, Germany (APRILIA), 2:03.642

19. Alex LOWES, UK (YAMAHA), 2:03.855

20. Alvaro BAUTISTA, Spain (APRILIA), 2:04.400

21. Tito RABAT, Spain (HONDA), 2:05.196

More, from a press release issued by Aprilia:

MOTOGP – FIRST PRACTICE ROUNDS FOR THE APRILIA RS-GP AT SILVERSTONE

Despite threateningly dark grey skies, the weather did not interfere with the first two practice sessions at Silverstone, held on a dry track. The MotoGP riders found rather bumpy asphalt and less than optimum grip, conditions that have an impact on bike performance, especially in acceleration.

The Aprilia Racing Team Gresini riders struggled particularly in this area, both complaining of a certain difficulty exploiting the power of their RS-GP machines coming out of corners due to the lack of stability. Therefore, both Alvaro Bautista and Stefan Bradl are hard at work with their mechanics, assessing changes to the setup, both of the chassis and the electronics, that will allow them to be more incisive in practice and qualifying tomorrow.

ALVARO BAUTISTA

“Today was a difficult day. We are struggling a lot. The bike is not stable and I am unable to take advantage of the power coming out of corners. I am always too close to the limit and that keeps me from pushing. We tried to work on the power output to make it less aggressive, but that was not enough. For tomorrow we will need to make some significant changes to solve the problems”.

STEFAN BRADL

“We used a few solutions that we found in the Misano tests which especially improve braking performance, but here at Silverstone acceleration and shock absorption are also important. From this point of view, there is still room for improvement, besides being ready for the different weather conditions that we could encounter. Today we were lucky not to have any rain in the two sessions, but things can change very quickly here”.

More, from a press release issued by Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:

Miller and Rabat get down to business at Silverstone

Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Jack Miller and Tito Rabat encountered cool and cloudy conditions on the opening day of practice for this weekend’s hugely anticipated British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Miller made a welcome return to action after back and wrist injuries sidelined the Australian from recent race action in Spielberg and Brno.

Not surprisingly, Miller adopted a cautious approach to proceedings in both of today’s 45-minute sessions to calmly begin the process of rebuilding his confidence on Honda’s RC213V machine.

Having worked round-the-clock to get in the best possible physical condition for Silverstone’s unique blend of fast corners, rapid changes of direction and hard braking zones, Miller encountered some issues with a small fracture in his right hand that resulted from his heavy warm-up fall in Austria last month.

But Miller produced a typically gutsy performance to lap two seconds faster in FP2 this afternoon, and he finished the opening day on Silverstone’s demanding 5.9km layout in 17th position.

Rabat’s first taste of the long and technical Silverstone track on a 1000cc prototype MotoGP machine proved to be a difficult affair.

He was lacking the confidence needed to attack the fast changes of direction through the spectacular Maggotts and Becketts section and was also struggling for rear grip in some of Silverstone’s hard acceleration points.

Rabat improved by almost a second this afternoon and he is optimistic of making further significant progress tomorrow to boost his hopes of posting more competitive lap times in final practice and qualifying.

Jack Miller: 17th – 2’03.631

“I’m pretty happy with how today went because I’m struggling a bit with my hand. My back feels fine but we found a small fracture in the palm of my hand from the crash in Austria and it is giving me a fair bit of grief. I can brake fine in a straight line but if I have to brake into a right-hander and twist the wrist a little more it hurts. I’ll put plenty of ice on it tonight to try and settle it down and I’m confident it won’t be an issue in the race. I’ve shown a fair bit of speed considering I have been off the bike for a while and we’ve got some room to improve. This weekend is all about not taking too many risks and staying in the saddle, so I can build up my physical condition for the remaining races.”

Tito Rabat: 21st – 2’05.196

“Silverstone is a very long and fast track and you need to put in a lot of effort on the bike to be fast around here. I just don’t feel confident enough to push any harder. The main problem is that I don’t have enough grip on the rear but I need to find a solution. All I can do is keep my motivation high and not let my head drop at this difficult time. The timesheets look bad but tomorrow is another day and I will be working my hardest to improve the situation and gain more confidence and speed.”

Michael Bartholemy: Team Principal

“Today was certainly a very difficult start for both Jack and Tito here at Silverstone. Jack wasn’t really pushing hard today and I can understand that. Conditions were quite cool and he didn’t want to risk another crash having worked so hard to get himself fit for this race. I think he has something in reserve for tomorrow because today he wanted to save some strength. He has a little pain with his hand injury but I think we have a good set-up that will allow him to be more competitive tomorrow when he can push closer to his normal level. Tito is struggling and we can’t hide from that fact. He seems a bit lost and Silverstone is not an easy track on a MotoGP bike. So all we can do is work hard to try and make him comfortable and give him the confidence to get more out of the package.”

More, from a press release issued by Pramac Racing:

Scott hits the Top 10 in the first free practices of the Octo British GP. Petrux finishes 13th

Scott Redding puts on a secure basis from the rain and wins a Top 10 that would mean direct qualification into Q2 in case of bad weather tomorrow. Instead, Danilo Petrucci will hope for a sunny Saturday to try to improve in FP3 to prevent Q1.

This, in short, is the Octo Pramac Yakhnich Friday of the long-awaited #BritishGP sponsored by Octo.

The first free practices of the Octo British Grand Prix saw both Petrux and Scott finishing well in the Top 10 respectively in ninth and tenth place with the English rider incisive from the first laps.

In FP2, as the circuit conditions have improved, Scott was able to lower by almost a second and a half his fastest time in the morning thanks to a last extremely positive lap, in which the time of 2’02.533 was also his “ideal time” of the session.

For Danilo a little bit harder afternoon when he could not take that step forward that would have served to compete for the Top 10. The time of 2’02.985 gave him a provisional 13th position.

10th – Scott Redding

2’02.533

“It was not a bad day even if the problem is the lack of feeling in the front, also due to the imperfect condition of the circuit. But this, of course, is a problem that also the others had. The goal tomorrow is to go directly into Q2, that is why we are satisfied with the result of today. There are still margins: we can definitely improve on lap time. We can work on many small details.”

13th – Danilo Petrucci

2’02.985

“It was not a particularly good day but at least we have things to look at about why we were not so fast. All things considered, I was not expecting this because we were in good shape on race pace but we struggled over lap-time. It is a shame to be out of Q2 today. We will have to see how the weather conditions will be tomorrow morning. I hope there will be the sun, otherwise I will have to do the Q1. But I am confident I can do well”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

Espargaro opens Silverstone campaign with solid effort on day one – Lowes impresses on debut

Monster Yamaha Tech3 Team rider Pol Espargaro positively concluded the first day of the British Grand Prix as he took the first steps in setting up his Yamaha for Sunday’s round 12 fight. The Spaniard began by completing the opening shakedown in 6th and just over a tenth of a second back from third place. The confident start left the 25-year-old eager for the afternoon practice and when it commenced, he carried on as he took advantage of the dry session, with rain expected over the weekend. After completing 16 laps, his best time saw him finish in 11th and only 0.541 back from the quickest Factory Yamaha MotoGP bike. Now the top independent rider in this year’s championship standings fully intends to increase his pace further tomorrow in order to clinch a solid grid position for Sunday’s race.

Meanwhile, Alex Lowes undertook an impressive start to his debut MotoGP outing at Silverstone where he closed the day just over 1.2 of a second back from his teammate. The stand-in rider, who is replacing the injured Bradley Smith for this race and the San Marino Grand Prix, kicked off the day by using the morning practice to take the first steps in adapting to the Yamaha YZR-M1. The young Briton’s progress was significant and when the afternoon session began, he continued his efforts. Here, Lowes notably produced a lap that was 2.370 quicker than his personal best from FP1, which also left him right in the hunt with the satellite MotoGP riders in free practice 2. Tomorrow, the 25-year-old aims to make further advances ahead of his first MotoGP qualifying shootout.

Pol Espargaro

Position: 11th Time: 2’02.573 Laps: 29

“Overall, the opening day at Silverstone has been a solid one and I am confident that I can climb the standings more tomorrow. We started pretty well and in FP1 I felt really comfortable on the bike. Then, we managed to improve quite a lot in the afternoon, however, we just missed out on the top ten at the end of the day. Therefore, this is a bit disappointing considering that the weather forecast for tomorrow morning is uncertain. Anyway, today the grip level changed a lot between the two sessions, and for some reason, I just didn’t have the same feeling. Now we will have a good look into the data and I am sure that we will find a solution to turn around this slight issue. The main area where we still have a margin of improvement to make is the corner speed. Moreover, we began to explore tyre options today, but it is too early to make a decision on which compound we will use on Sunday as the track conditions will continue to change. Even if it rains tomorrow, I am convinced that we can do a good job and hopefully, score a strong qualifying position.”

Alex Lowes

Position: 19th Time: 2’03.855 Laps: 21

“I really enjoyed my first day and I am excited for tomorrow, with the main aim being to continue improving. Unfortunately, I made one small mistake this morning, and crashed in the last lap of FP1, however, due to the timing, it luckily meant that I didn’t lose any precious track time. Anyway, the team did a great job with fixing the bike, so I have to say thanks to them. FP2 went a lot better and I started to understand the bike more, which raised my confidence. I still have a lot more to learn but I feel that I made some big steps forward. Day one is out of the way so I’ll digest what has happened and I will think about some areas of improvement from my side for tomorrow. I am certain that we can be closer to the front in the next few days, and I want to get as near as possible to Pol. However, I have to stay realistic and I know that the faster you get, the harder it is. I think I did quite a good job today so thanks to the team for their great work and I’m looking forward to pushing more tomorrow.”

More, from a press release issued by Movistar Yamaha:

PROMISING START FOR MOVISTAR YAMAHA MOTOGP AT CLOUDY SILVERSTONE

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi started proceedings at the Silverstone Circuit as the British Grand Prix got underway, taking fourth and sixth place in the combined practice sessions’ timesheets.

Silverstone (UK), 2nd September 2016

Movistar Yamaha MotoGP riders Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were back on the track today for the first practice sessions of the weekend ahead of Sunday‘s British Grand Prix. After a one-week break, shortened by a one-day private test at Brno, this was the first opportunity for both riders to get back into a riding rhythm at the Silverstone Circuit.

Lorenzo got down to business quickly in the first free practice as he looked to set up his fourth victory of the season. Getting a feel for the bike with a new swingarm, he steadily increased his pace around the overcast British circuit and set a fast stint towards the end of the session, dropping consistent 2‘02s laps. His best time, a 2’02.765s, saw him take second place, 0.282s from the front.

In the afternoon session he made another step forward. Spending the majority of the 45 minute practice in the top three, the reigning World Champion completed the second heat in fourth place with a best time of 2’02.032. He finished the day 0.611s from first, after various riders put in a hot lap in the final minutes.

Today Rossi was trying out a new chassis for his YZR-M1 that he first tested at Brno and made improvements between today‘s two sessions. The nine-time World Champion wrapped up the morning practice with a solid 2‘03.591s lap for fourth place, 1.108s from the provisional leader and just 0.028s behind the rider in third place.

In the afternoon session the Doctor shaved off more tenths to better his best lap time from this morning, dropping into the 2‘02s. He finished the day in sixth place in the combined standings, having improved on the morning session by 1.329s with a 2‘02.262s lap, 0.841s from first.

MASSIMO MEREGALLI

TEAM DIRECTOR

The testing that we have done today during the free practice sessions was a good start for our riders, because Valentino had to compare two different chassis specifications and Jorge had to compare different swingarms. In addition we worked on various settings in order to improve the rear grip and the turning of the bike and we also compared different tyre specs. The condition of the tarmac in dry circumstances is not as good as we expected, which made our job a bit more difficult. The speed of our riders and their stints didn‘t suffer: their pace was already good. For tomorrow it will be important that the track will be dry at least in the morning, because we still have to improve the setting and it will be fundamental to do a long-distance stint to test the tyres that we would like to use for the race.

JORGE LORENZO

The bike is acting differently compared to other years, because we‘ve got the Michelin tyres and new electronics and it looks like, at this track particularly, it‘s more difficult to improve the record of the track. We are trying something to especially better the turning of the bike and we are improving it. Let‘s see what the weather is like tomorrow, if the weather is dry, maybe we can make another step forward and be ready for the race on Sunday.

VALENTINO ROSSI

These were difficult conditions, but we were lucky because we were able to do both practice sessions on the dry and were able to use slick tyres. We needed to, because we have a lot of work to do: we have the new chassis and swingarm that we need to understand. Some things I like more and some things I like less. For tomorrow we need to understand the right balance, the right stuff to mount. At the end everybody was very fast and with the soft tyre at the end my lap time was not so bad, so I was there and now we wait for tomorrow and hope for better conditions.

More, from a press release issued by Ducati Corse:

Andrea Iannone leads the way at the end of first day of free practice for British GP at Silverstone. Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso lies in seventh

Andrea Iannone headed the field after the first day of free practice action for the British GP, wwhich will be held at the Silverstone circuit on Sunday. The Abruzzo-born rider, after ending the morning’s FP1 session in seventh place, ran consistently quick laps in the afternoon to clock the fastest mark of the day in a time of 2’01.421, which he recorded on his seventeenth and final lap in FP2.

His team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was seventh quickest, with a time of 2’02.267, which the man from Romagna set on the sixteenth and final lap of the afternoon run. In the morning Dovizioso had been fifth quickest in FP1.

Today’s two free practice sessions were held beneath cloudy skies and with air/track temperatures of around 20 degrees, but the track surface was dry.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team #29) – 2’01.421 (1st)

“In FP2 we tried to change something from this morning’s set-up, but in the end we reverted to using the previous settings because I didn’t like the changes very much. On this circuit it is very important to get the rear of the bike to work well and we are focusing on this aspect. Tomorrow I hope it doesn’t rain because we still have a lot of work to do – me, my team and my race engineer, who is also helping me find the best lines on this track.”

Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team #04) – 2’02.267 (7th)

“This morning we had the same set-up on both bikes, while in the afternoon we tried two different set-ups, in order to try and improve certain aspects. Unfortunately however we didn’t succeed in doing this and my feeling with the bike didn’t improve either, so for this reason I was unable to lap strongly on the new tyre at the end of the session. All in all, we’ve got a good pace on used tyres, but it’s clear that we will still have to improve tomorrow and for this reason let’s hope we have a dry track.”

More, from a press release issued by Repsol Honda:

British GP gets underway in Silverstone for the Repsol Honda Team

On the first day of the British Grand Prix, characterized by cool temperatures and cloudy skies, Marc Marquez was satisfied with his pace on the harder Michelin tyres before setting the fifth fastest lap time of the day. The Spaniard looks to continue improving the settings on his RC213V before Sunday’s race.

Teammate Dani Pedrosa remained second fastest until the hectic five final minutes of the FP2 session and finished the day in ninth with a best time of 2’02.372, just over one tenth down on his teammate and half a second from the provisional front row.

The unpredictable British weather is expected to affect tomorrow’s track action; should conditions be wet, Marc and Dani’s performances today will likely have secured them top-10 positions, which would advance them directly to QP2.

Marc Marquez

5TH

“This first day went well, especially in the afternoon. In the morning we went out with the medium front compound and quickly saw that it wasn’t the best choice in that moment, because with the track still being very cold, I crashed when riding very slowly. However, in the second session I gained confidence again, and that allowed us to work very well with the harder rear tyre, which works quite well and seems to be the one we’ll go with for the race, as long as it’s dry. We still need to continue working on the setup and understand the soft rear tyre a little better. The important thing is that I’m feeling good and I have a good pace; I’m happy with how everything went.”

Dani Pedrosa

9TH

“Today we’ve been quite lucky with the weather as we had two full dry sessions before the rain started. It was exactly what I needed: doing as many laps as possible on this demanding track. We were able to try both the medium and soft rear tyres and that was also good. I think it’s positive to already have this feeling in the dry and we’ll see what weather we get tomorrow and what track conditions we’ll find. In any case, we’ll keep working to further improve our feeling.”

More, from a press release issued by Aspar Team:

Pull&Bear Aspar riders get to work at Silverstone

Eugene Laverty and Yonny Hernández rack up thirty laps apiece on day one at Silverstone

Four different factories took the top four spots on the opening day of MotoGP free practice at the British Grand Prix, with the Ducati of Andrea Iannone on top of the timesheets thanks to a lap of 2’01.421, which is inside the circuit record held by Dani Pedrosa. However, the Italian’s pace was just short of a second shy of Marc Márquez’s fastest ever lap of this track, three tenths quicker than Maverick Viñales and half a second clear of Brno race winner Cal Crutchlow. Behind the top trio are the three title contenders, Jorge Lorenzo lapping two tenths quicker than Marc Márquez and Valentino Rossi. With rain forecast tomorrow it will be an interesting wait to see if anybody’s times from today qualify them directly to Q2, with Andrea Dovizioso, Aleix Espargaró, Dani Pedrosa and Scott Redding currently holding top ten positions.

Eugene Laverty and Yonny Hernández did more work than anybody today, the Pull&Bear Aspar riders clocking up thirty laps apiece as they prepared for a race that gets underway at 1530h BST on Sunday. Laverty finished half a second off the positions that would qualify him directly for Q2, the Irishman enjoying the support of his fans here at Silverstone although his best lap was hindered by a rider getting in his way. Hernández has worked on some new set-up ideas today, particularly with traction control mapping, but both riders are looking for more rear grip from their machines during what they hope will be another dry day tomorrow.

14th Eugene Laverty 2’03.118 (30 laps): “It was good to start the weekend with two dry sessions. To be honest I thought it would feel bumpier here than last year because that has been the case at most circuits this season with these tyres but actually it felt similar. Still, the bike feels unstable and there is not much grip out there. The main issue for us is finding some traction on the rear and putting down all this power we have to the ground.”

16th Yonny Hernández 2.03.380 (31 laps): “We tried some changes to the bike today and worked mainly on the traction control mapping, amongst other things. We still need to improve our corner exit but hopefully with a few small modifications tomorrow we can improve and push our way into Q2. I feel positive because we have taken a step forward compared to Brno, I am happy with the work we have done so far and hopeful we can be closer to the front.”

More, from a press release issued by Team Suzuki Press Office:

VIÑALES A STRONG 2ND IN BRITISH MotoGP™ FP2

Maverick Viñales – 2nd.

Aleix Espargaró – 8th.

Team SUZUKI ECSTAR’s Maverick Viñales impressed in the opening Free Practice sessions today at the Octo British GP in the UK as team-mate Aleix Espargaró recorded eighth position.

With rain clouds looming over the Silverstone Circuit, and air temperatures of 16 degrees, Viñales topped the timesheets in FP1 with a time of 2’02.483 with Espargaró 12th on 2’04.443. But in the afternoon session, and a fraction warmer at 19 degrees, Viñales’ recorded a 2’01.7212-lap which gave him second position overall. Espargaró also improved by more-than two seconds to secure eighth position with a time of 2’02.364.

Davide Brivio – Team Manager:

“Today Maverick had a positive day both in the morning and in the afternoon, where he felt confident with the bike and his lap times were always amongst the fastest, not only on a single lap, but also on pace. We’re also happy for Aleix because he improved a lot in the afternoon since the morning and he managed to get much closer to the top, although he seems to have some room for improvements. We have developed a good base set-up for the dry conditions, we’ll have to wait and see how the weather will develop, although I think we could also exploit the positive work we’ve done today in case of wet conditions.”

Maverick Viñales:

“I have a good feeling and confidence after this first day, we still can work on lines because this circuit is pretty long to learn and so there is room for improvement. We did a positive job today both with hard and soft tyres; this morning with the hard I was already competitive and I improved with the soft. Although I have already covered the race distance today with one set, we still have to further investigate which will be the best option for the time attack and for the race. I felt good also with used tyres and the set-up has improved; the main focus will be to refine my riding style.”

Aleix Espargaró:

“I have mixed feelings because this morning my feeling was not good with the bike, it moved a lot and also the grip was lacking, but also positive because in the afternoon we improved a lot. During the lunch break my crew changed some settings and they proved to be effective, I felt much more confident in the afternoon and the time is a first positive outcome. We have clearer ideas on the direction to be taken to improve further and this leaves me positive for tomorrow. Here the track is really bumpy, so we have to find a good compromise, but at the same time I feel we are exploiting the chassis positives in fast corners and this is positive.”

More, from a press release issued by LCR Honda:

 EXCELLENT FIRST DAY FOR CRUTCHLOW AT SILVERSTONE

Cal Crutchlow was every bit the homecoming hero as he set the third-fastest time on the first day of practice at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The LCR Honda rider had played down his chances of following up his breakthrough victory at the Czech GP, but his pace on the opening day of action belied his doubts.

The MotoGP field were greeted with chilly weather and overcast skies as they took to the high-speed track in the morning session, with the Isle of Man-based rider setting the 11th fastest time.

In the afternoon, following a brief shower of rain, Crutchlow pushed on his lap times by over two seconds, eventually stopping the clock in 2’01.917 to end the day as third fastest overall, and the top Honda rider. With more rain forecast for Saturday’s qualifying the 30 year-old will hope to get the best grid position possible before a forecasted dry race on Sunday.

#35 Cal Crutchlow – 3rd (2’01.917)

“It’s been not too bad today. This morning I took it quite easy because we had to try a few different things with the bike. I was quite positive at the end of the first free practice, but then I was worried because it looked like it was going to rain all day and I was sitting outside the top ten.”

“Then the afternoon session went well, and I was happy with the steps forward we made. We still have a lot more to do in the next couple of days for the race on Sunday, but we don’t know what the weather is going to do – it’s always a disaster like that. The team is doing a fabulous job and we’ll see how we get on tomorrow whatever the weather.”

More, from a press release issued by Avintia Racing:

 Avintia Racing comienza el trabajo en Silverstone

Avintia Racing riders Hector Barbera and Loris Baz finished 12th and 17th on the opening practice day for the British Grand Prix. The day was cloudy and cold at Silverstone, but the rain didn’t appear during both 45 minute sessions of the MotoGP class, so the riders had full dry time both in FP1 and FP2.

Barbera was not comfortable in the morning and he suffered a crash at the ultra-fast turn 12, fortunately without consequences. The Spaniard kept pushing in the afternoon to improve his pace by more than one second, but it was still not enough to get into the top ten.

Baz worked on the set up of his bike for dry conditions and the result was quite positive, with a significant improvement from the morning to the afternoon session.

The weather forecast has announced rain for tomorrow from 1pm local time, so if this is correct, Barbera and Baz will have one more chance to try to get in Q2.

Hector Barbera | 2’02.608 | P12

“It was a tough day. We had a bad start and I had some brake issues on my first bike, so I quickly jumped on the second bike and I suddenly crashed. So the day was getting more and more difficult. I can’t say I’m happy, because I’m not in the positions we are used to. From the morning to the afternoon we improved a lot, and this means that the first practice was a disaster. But we managed to get back on the right way and I’m sure we can improve even more tomorrow. We have to work more on the bike set up, because this track has many changes of direction and this is the biggest limit of my bike. But we have to keep calm. We made a mistake after the good results of the last few races and I felt more pressure, so I was not riding comfortably. We need to go session by session and enjoy riding my bike. If it’s dry tomorrow, we’ll try to get a place in Q2 and if it’s raining we’ll try to adapt to the conditions.”

Loris Baz | 2’03.370 | P15

“Today it was important to get the best of the dry track, because the forecast for tomorrow says it will be raining, but not on Sunday. So this will be the bike we’ll have for the race on Sunday, or quite similar. We had work to do because the base set up was not good enough this morning, but we were able to improve during FP2, using a different front tyre that works better. But we’ll have to wait and see the weather tomorrow to further improve our pace. Overall it was a good first day and we made some steps forward. The track is really bumpy, and it’s one of the characteristics of this front tyre that you feel these bumps a lot. Austria and Brno were not so bumpy, but I have been always complaining with this tyre, so here with more bumps, everybody is complaining. But it’s the same for everybody and we have to wait for tomorrow and see what we can get.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna:

#BritishGP: Iannone leads the Friday charge

Austrian GP winner back on top in Silverstone

The weather was the focus of the pre-event Press Conference at the British GP, and Friday’s changeable weather did little to disappoint the hype. With mostly fine skies threatening rain and only brief wet interludes in Moto2™, FP1 at Silverstone Circuit saw Maverick Viñales (Team Suzuki Ecstar) take the top spot, as the Spaniard took over in the last few minutes of the session. Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was second in the morning, ahead of Repsol Honda Team rider Marc Marquez – who took a tumble at Turn 12, but was uninjured. With the weather having stayed dry for the first session, despite the subsequent Moto2™ practice being interrupted by rain, MotoGP™ FP2 was also unaffected and saw all the grid improve their lap times.

Andrea Iannone (Ducati Team) led a lot of the second session of the day as the Italian machine’s power comes into its own once again on the fast 5.9km Silverstone track, with Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) just behind the Italian on the timesheets before the shootout began as the clock ticked down towards zero. Viñales was the first to set an all-red sector lap to take back the top spot, before winner last time out Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) hit back and found some home form. Finally, it was Iannone who topped the session and therefore the day once again, with Viñales in second and home hero Crutchlow knocked down to P3.

Reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP), who is the most successful rider at Silverstone Circuit, was fourth in FP2 after having been second in the morning session, ahead of the only man to have beaten him in the dry at the venue – Repsol Honda’s Marc Marquez. Marquez avoided drama in the second session of the day with no further incidents, locking out the top five. 9-time world champion Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) was P6 on Friday as the Italian returns to a track he has traditionally struggled on in the dry, with Ducati Team’s Andrea Dovizioso behind his compatriot in P7.

Aleix Espargaro (Team Suzuki Ecstar) was eighth fastest by the end of the second session, ahead of Dani Pedrosa in P9. Local rider Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Yakhnich) completed the top ten on the first day of action for his home round, after having also led part of the FP1 session in the morning.

FP3 on Saturday morning will now give riders their final chance to graduate directly to the Q2 qualifying session to fight for the top places on the grid, with the rest heading for Q1 and the chance to fight to move through as starting positions are decided for the British GP – with lights out on Sunday at the later hour of 15:30 local time (GMT+1).

Lowes quickest out the blocks in rain-hit Moto2™

Brit tops Friday at Silverstone in the intermediate category

With only a few dry laps at the start of each FP session in Moto2™ on Friday at the Octo British Grand Prix, the race was on to make the most of the reduced dry track time. With the intermediate class getting the brunt of the British weather with rain in the middle of the first session followed by a repeat performance in FP2, the pack failed to shuffle greatly between the two, although the majority of the field did improve their times in the afternoon.

It was Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) who got down to business first, as the former WorldSSP champion took the top spot in the morning and remained fastest after the countdown to the end of Friday’s track action. Lowes, who has a good record at Silverstone and is in the title fight in Moto2™ in 2016, kicked off his home weekend the way he will have wanted as he looks to get back on the top step. Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was second fastest on Friday as the Japanese rider’s impressive 2016 continues, with wet weather Czech GP winner Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) completing the top three.

Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was third fastest in the morning and ended the day one lower in P4 as the 2014 Moto3™ world champion’s good form continues, ahead of Swiss veteran Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten), who returns to action in Silverstone following his crash in qualifying in Brno that saw the former 125 world champion sit out the Czech GP.

Reigning champion Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport) was sixth by the end of the day, with the second Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS machine of Franco Morbidelli behind the Frenchman and ahead of fellow Italian Lorenzo Baldassari (Forward Racing). Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) was ninth quickest, ahead of Axel Pons (AGR Team), who completed the top ten.

Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) remained in P24 at the end of the day, but with a significantly quicker lap time as the Spaniard rides through the pain barrier after breaking his collarbone in a training crash ahead of the event.

The Moto2™ grid will now be hoping for a drier FP3 on Saturday morning, before they get back on track to fight it out for the starting grid ahead of Sunday’s race.

Navarro heads the field on Friday

2015 pole setter fastest on Day 1 at the #BritishGP

Moto3™saw a few spots of rain ahead of the first practice session for the Octo British Grand Prix during the morning, but despite a rain shower that had stopped play in Moto2™ FP1, the afternoon session saw a dry track host the lower category once again. By the afternoon it was a similar host of names rising to the top in FP2 throughout the session, as Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Francesco Bagnaia (PULL&BEAR Aspar Mahindra) were initially the three to beat in FP1 and 2, before some late chargers saw changes on the timesheets.

Navarro eventually took charge on Friday as the pole man from 2015 took the top spot back from title rival Brad Binder in the last dash of the second session, stamping some authority on the day following the recent announcement that he will be moving to Moto2™ in 2017 with Federal Oil Gresini Moto2. Rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing Moto3) was third fastest in another impressive showing for the Italian in the UK, ending the day ahead of his more experienced teammate Enea Bastianini. With lap times in the afternoon much quicker than FP1, every rider on the grid went faster in the second session.

PULL&BEAR Aspar Mahindra rider Jorge Martin was fourth fastest, eventually getting the better of teammate Francesco Bagnaia (P6) in the afternoon after the Italian had been fastest in the morning, and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) completed the top five. Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) was seventh behind his compatriot Bagnaia, ahead of the second Estrella Galicia 0,0 bike of Aron Canet in an impressive rookie Friday for the Spaniard. Hiroki Ono (Honda Team Asia) and Jules Danilo (Ongetta-Rivacold) completed the top ten.

Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) was eleventh fastest in a solid start to the weekend, ahead of recently re-signed teammate Andrea Migno.

Saturday sees Moto3™ head out for one more practice session, before qualifying sets the grid for Sunday’s 17-lap race.