Ducati double lead in the first free practice session of the MotoGP at Silverstone: Pramac rider Johann Zarco set the best time with 1:59.893 minutes, shortly after he crashed in the fast turn 7. Brand colleague Francesco Bagnaia secured second place, only 27 thousandths behind.
Alongside Zarco, Bagnaia was also one of the session’s crash pilots. The Italian caused an early incident when he slipped and went down at Turn 4 on his fourth lap. Shortly thereafter, World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo rolled out with a technical problem on his Yamaha.
Halfway through the session, the best time was 2:00.827 minutes, set by Aprilia driver Maverick Vinales. In the second half, however, it got much faster again.
In the end, two pilots, Zarco and Bagnaia, broke the two-minute mark. Suzuki rider Alex Rins was third but was already 0.327 seconds back.
Quartararo finished fourth, half a second behind. The World Champion drove several times through the extended lap in preparation for his long lap penalty on Sunday. He had been penalized for his collision with Aleix Espargaro at Assen.
Takaaki Nakagami completed the top five as the best Honda rider. Behind them, Aleix Espargaro and his Aprilia teammate Vinales finished sixth and seventh. Joan Mir (Suzuki), Jorge Martin (Pramac-Ducati) and Brad Binder (KTM) rounded out the top 10, who were within 1.101 seconds.
Stefan Bradl, who continues to replace Marc Marquez at Honda, finished the first MotoGP practice session after the summer break in 22nd place, 2.169 seconds back.